• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.393-398
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• 2007

We studied the mechanism of liquid crystal alignment on polyvinylfluorocinnamate (PVCN-F) films which were irradiated by UV using polarized fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectroscopy. UV irradiation of PVCN-F films caused decrease of vinylene -C=C- stretching peak area at $1638cm^{-1}$ and shift of conjugated C:0 stretching vibration at $1712cm^{-1}\;to\;1734cm^{-1}$ which is caused by nonconjugated C=O stretching nitration. To study the orientation direction of 5CB liquid crystal (LC) molecules in the liquid crystal cell with PUV irradiation, rubbing treatment or without any treatment on the PVCN-F alignment layer, we used polarized FT-IR dichroism technique. We successfully measured 5CB LC alignment directions, which are perpendicular to the irradiated PUV polarization direction and parallel to the rubbing direction in the liquid crystal cell without using dichroic dyes.