Anisotropic liquid crystalline polymer films

Claim 1

A self-supporting, anisotropic liquid crystalline polymer film produced by: forming a polymer film from a polymer material of a photocrosslinkable liquid crystalline poly(meth)acrylate ester dissolved in an organic solvent; photocrosslinking said polymer film to form a liquid crystalline poly(meth)acrylate ester at a temperature above Tg; and orienting said film, after crosslinking, by stretching at a temperature above Tg; wherein said photocrosslinkably liquid crystalline poly(meth)acrylate ester is formed from 0.1-10 wt %, based on the total weight of the monomer, of photocrosslinkable-group-containing monomers of formula I CH.sub.2 =C(R)--X--(CH.sub.2).sub.n --AR (I) wherein R represents hydrogen or methyl; X represents a --COO-- group or a --C(O)--N(R 1 )-- group wherein R 1 is hydrogen or an alkyl group of 1-4 carbon atoms; and Ar represents a --Q--CM═CH--Q' group or a group of the formula ##STR18## r, p, m, s and q independently represent zero or 1, M is hydrogen or --C.tbd.n, Q' is hydrogen, or a substituted phenyl, naphthyl or furanyl group, or a pyridinium ion, or is ##STR19## where R 2 is a phenyl group, a hydroxyl group, or a C 1-6 alkoxy group, and i is zero or 1; and n is 2 to 14; and monomers of formula II CH.sub.2 =C(R)--X--Y--Z (II) where R represents hydrogen or methyl; X represents a --COO-- group or a --C(O)--N(R 1 )-- group were R 1 is hydrogen or an alkyl group with 1-4 carbon atoms; Y represents a spacer unit with 1-14 chain members; and Z represents a mesogenous group; wherewith the proportions by weight of monomers of formulas I and II add up to 100 wt % of the polymer.