Abstract
The behaviour of a family of polymers containing equimolar amounts of hydroquinone and isophthalic acid residues, together with changing proportions of hydroxybenzoic acid moieties has been studied. The response of the polymers to an external shear field has been monitored using a polarizing microscope. The conditions which lead to the formation of the banded texture for each of the polymers has been determined. It is found that compositions which are isotropic at rest can form the banded texture following shear at sufficiently high rates. However, the bands so formed are not stable upon annealing. The optical features of the banded texture, its period and underlying trajectory, are determined both by the polymer composition and the conditions of shear.
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