Banded structures in oriented thermotropic polymers

Drawn fibres and shear-oriented thin films of four thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers have been examined using polarized light optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A banded structure is observed in polarized light, with the striations lying perpendicular to the fibre axis or shearing direction. This structure closely resembles those previously reported in lyotropic polymers, suggesting that the supramolecular organization implied by the banded structure is a feature characteristic of oriented liquid crystalline polymers in general.