The kinetics of phase transitions in side chain liquid crystalline homo- and copolymers is studied using differential scanning calorimetry. For the most cases, the Avrami treatment of kinetic curves gives evidence of diffusion-controlled mesophase formation while a crossover to free two-dimensional phase growth has been observed for a smectic copolysiloxane. All the polymers show a linear increase in transition temperatures upon annealing temperature but a corresponding decrease in transition enthalpies. Application of the "slow" phase transitions to the photorecording in dyed copolymers is discussed.

Keywords: LC polymers, phase transitions, kinetics, photorecording

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