Exploitation of self-assembly phenomena in liquid crystalline polymer phases for obtaining multifunctional materials

This chapter aims to provide a recent overview on the self-assembly phenomena that take place within specific liquid crystalline polymer phases and can be driven by different strategies (such as surface effects, amphiphilic interactions and weak intermolecular forces like hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, etc.). Indeed, these phenomena are able to induce the formation of liquid crystalline domains that may show peculiar thermal, mechanical, barrier, optical and/or dielectric properties, which can be exploited for the building up of multifunctional materials for a wide range of applications. Some examples of self-assembled liquid crystalline polymer systems are thoroughly discussed, showing the correlations between their structure, the final properties and some potential applications.