A Landau-de Gennes theory of nematic polymers

Abstract

For a semi-flexible, nematic polymer, the Landau-de Gennes expansion for the free energy of the homogeneous melt is derived. The theory contains three parameters : the degree of polymerization, the inherent elasticity of the polymer chain, and the quadrupolar mean field between monomers. The dependence on chain length and chain flexibility of the transition temperature, the order parameter and the latent heat of the nematic-isotropic transition is discussed