Dielectric relaxation of thermotropic liquid crystalline polyesters based on α,ω,-alkylene-di-4-hydroxybenzoates and 4,4’-alkylenedioxy-dibenzoic acid

Two structurally isomeric homologous series of semiflexible thermotropic liquid crystalline polyesters were analysed by dielectric spectroscopy in temperature intervals varying from 253 to 403 K. Each series is characterised by a well-distinct behaviour of the dielectric loss versus temperature with a minor diffuse and a more confined relaxation occurring at lower and higher temperatures, respectively. Extrapolations from semilog plots of frequency (f ) versus reciprocal absolute temperature (1/T ) indicated that the principal relaxation is related to the glass transition temperature as defined by DSC. The analysis of data according to WLF equation indicated that the size and the kind of the polymethylene groups influence the apparent activation energy. A parity effect, connected to the length of polymethylene segments within each series, was finally detected on the relative position of the maximum relaxation, the odd numbers showing in any case higher temperature values.