Morphology evolution of a liquid crystalline polymer confined by highly packed glass beads in polycarbonate

Very long and perfectly oriented fibrils of a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) were in situ formed in capillary flows by adding large amounts of glass beads (GB) to a polycarbonate (PC)/LCP blend. Thermodynamically the different interfacial tensions between the components made GB migrate to the LCP phase. Then the high content of GB spheres produced a confined condition, so that the LCP droplets passed through the simultaneously formed micro-capillaries, followed by being stretched into fibrils and stabilized consequently.