Side chain liquid crystalline polyurethanes are a new class of materials that show promise for mechanooptic applications. The response of this polyurethane with liquid crystals pendant to the soft segments to an applied strain using both static and dynamic Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) linear dichroism will be reported. A model is proposed to represent these findings, and reflections on the cooperative movement of the different macromolecular components of the polyurethane are offered. In addition, dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy in the form of phase modulated reflection absorption (PM-IRRAS) technique was used to study the morphological properties of polymeric thin films deposited on self-assembled monolayers. These properties are closely related to the orientation of the macromolecular chains on the surface. In one such system where ionic polymers are involved, the orientation is highly influenced by the presence of an electrolyte and it depends in particular on the ionic content of the initial solutions
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