Switchable tackiness and wettability of a liquid crystalline polymer

Science. 1999 Aug 20;285(5431):1246-9. doi: 10.1126/science.285.5431.1246.

Abstract

The spreading velocity of liquids on the surface of a liquid crystalline polymer can be tremendously affected by a slight temperature change. Indeed, a bulk transition between a highly ordered smectic and an isotropic phase induces a sharp change from a rigid to a soft behavior, with consequent effects on the tack properties of the liquid crystalline polymer and on the dewetting dynamics of a liquid on its surface.