The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is valued for its chemical stability and flexibility. In this study, a series of PEG-based liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) was synthesized via anionic ring-opening polymerization of epoxide monomers with varying mesogenic tail lengths (n = 3, 4, 5, 8). The effect of alkyl tail length on self-assembly behavior and thermal properties was investigated. Thermal transitions and stability were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), while thermal conductivity measurements were performed to evaluate heat-transport performance. Liquid crystalline textures and molecular ordering were examined by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Among the samples, the P-EP5 polymer exhibited the highest thermal conductivity of 0.42 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, indicating that tuning the mesogenic alkyl tail length effectively enhances molecular orientation and thermal performance in PEG-based LCPs.