preface to first edition page ix
preface to second edition xiii
part i fundamentals
1 liquid crystalline polymers: a brief history
1.1 from rigid-rods to main-chain polymers
1.2 the development of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers
1.3 new trends: networks and elastomers
1.4 theoretical underpinnings
1.5 a bright future for liquid crystalline polymers
2 terminology and concepts
3 stability of liquid crystalline polymers
3.1 introduction
3.2 factors limiting liquid crystallinity in rigid rod-like molecules
3.3 control of mesophase stability in main-chain thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers
3.4 lyotropic rigid-rod polymers
3.5 polymers with mesogenic side-chains
3.6 liquid crystalline polymers with more complex molecular architectures
4 theories of liquid crystallinity in polymers
4.1 introduction
4.2 steric theory of rod-like liquid crystals
4.3 virial theories: the onsager approach
4.4 flory's lattice model
4.5 orientation dependent interactions: the maier-saupe theory
4.6 theories for main-chain polymers with semi-rigid chains
4.7 theories of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers
4.8 phenomenological theories of phase transitions
5 local order and classification
5.1 introduction
5.2 nematic polymers
5.3 cholesteric polymers
5.4 smectic polymers
5.5 other aspects of optical texture
5.6 crystallisation in liquid crystalline polymers
6 distortions and defects
6.1 introduction
6.2 distortions
6.3 disclinations and point singularities: a general introduction
6.4 disclination structure in planar geometry
6.5 disclinations and point defects in three dimensions
6.6 surface disclinations and walls
6.7 defects in smectics and cholesterics
6.8 what is special about polymeric liquid crystals?
7 biological liquid crystalline polymers
7.1 introduction
7.2 polyelectrolytes
7.3 helicoids: also known as pseudomorphs
7.4 lyotropic main-chain polymers
7.5 side-chain liquid crystalline polymers
7.6 concluding remarks
8 flow and applied fields
8.1 introduction
8.2 flow fields in liquid crystalline materials
8.3 the leslie-ericksen theory for viscous flow of nematics
8.4 miesowicz viscosities
8.5 the role of texture in liquid crystals subject to shear flow
8.6 shear flow of liquid crystalline polymers
8.7 mechanical response of liquid crystalline elastomers
8.8 response of liquid crystalline polymers to electric and magnetic fields
8.9 instabilities

part ii applications
9 processing and applications of structural liquid crystalline polymers
9.1 two perspectives on the application of liquid crystalline polymers:
an introduction to chapters 9 and 10
9.2 rheology
9.3 processing and the consequences of flow alignment
9.4 liquid crystalline polymers as structural materials
9.5 liquid crystalline polymers in blends and composites
9.6 commercial exploitation of structural liquid crystalline polymers
10 applications of functional liquid crystalline polymers
10.1 introduction
10.2 liquid crystalline polymers as optoelectronic materials
10.3 liquid crystalline polymers in displays
10.4 semiconducting liquid crystalline polymers
10.5 laser writeable devices
10.6 non-linear optical applications
10.7 sensors and actuators
list of symbols
molecule index
general index