Abstract
Fractal dimensional analysis was employed to obtain a quantitative measure of the morphology of polymer networks formed by UV irradiation induced polymerization of photo-reactive mesogenic monomers dissolved in a liquid crystal host medium. The fractal dimensions obtained, may be interpreted by polymer network growth following a percolation-like model for monomer concentrations well below the solubility limit. On passing the solubility limit, the polymerization process changes from a (radical chain) solution polymerization to a dispersion polymerization, with fractal dimensions decreasing and suggesting a cluster-cluster aggregation process for monomer concentrations above the solubility limit, similar to the aggregation of colloidal particles.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 2520-2525 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 20 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Oct 2002 |