A series
of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) with polysiloxane backbones
have been synthesized by grafting mesogenic monomers to
poly[3-mercaptopropylmethylsiloxane] (PMMS) via thiol-ene click chemistry. Moreover, by controlling the molar ratio of PMMS and
mesogenic monomers, PMMS-based LCPs can be
partially functionalized, meanwhile leaving spare mercapto groups, which can be
further used as crosslinking sites to prepare polysiloxane-based liquid
crystalline elastomers (LCEs).
