9312823 Geil A major problem in the development of the potential of "rigid-rod" thermotropic liquid crystal polymers is to current lack of understanding of the effect of synthesis and procesing on a) the configuration (mer sequence) of copolymers and b) the "crystal structure" (conformation, mobility and packing) of both homo- and copolymers in the as-used and as-processed states. Using the oxybenzoate-oxynaphthoate family of polyesters as generic liquid crystal polymers, the solutions to the above problem are being sought using, primarily, electron diffraction studies at room and elevated temperature of single crystals synthesized in a manner particularly suitable for the research, complemented by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. The observations, it is believed, are also of relevance to the problem of understanding the crystallization of polymers that are not liquid crystalline in nature. ***
