Abstract: Anew kind of amphiphilic polymer, composed of a hydrophilic network and hydrophobic stearic chains, was synthesized.Three, two or only one DSCpeaks were observed for the amphiphilic polymers with SAcontents of 75.8%, 62.7%and 48.5%respectively, which indicates there exists mesophase depending strongly on hydrophobic contents.The fact is further confirmed by the data from temperature dependence of X-ray diffraction and optical polarizing micrograph.Due to the strong interaction between long alkyl chains, we conclude the possibility that some hydrophobic semi-rigid rods are formed and they are responsible for the mesophase formation.

Key words: Amphiphilic polymer, Hydrophobic effect, Thermotropic LC