Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Diffusion of model main-chain and side-chain liquid crystalline polymers was studied in the nematic phase. The concentration of deuterium labeled polymer vs. depth in a thick matrix layer was profiled with Forward Recoil Spectrometry to determine diffusion coefficients. In each system, the tracer diffusion coefficient was measured as a function of temperature, and correlated both with phase transitions determined by thermal analysis and with melt viscosity data.