In recent developments of composite materials, scientists and engineers have come up with fibers as well as matrices for composites and techniques of blending high cost components with low cost materials. Thus, one creates cost effective composite materials that are as efficient as space age components. One of the major breakthroughs in this area is the innovation of molecular composites, specifically polymeric liquid crystals (PLCs). These materials have excellent mechanical properties such as tensile impact and bending strength. They have excellent chemical resistance, low thermal expansivity, and low flammability. Their low viscosity leads to good processability One major setback in using space age composite technology in commercial applications is the price. Due to the complexity of processing, the cost of space composite materials is skyrocketing. To take the same concept of space age composite materials to create a more economical substitute has become a serious concern among scientists and engineers around the world. The two issues that will be resolved in this thesis are: (1) the potential impact of using PLCs (molecular reinforcement) can have on macro reinforced (heterogeneous composite, HC) long fiber systems; and (2) how strategic placement of the reinforcing layers can affect the macromechanical properties of the …

Many organic materials have been studied to be used as semiconductors, few of them being pentacene and polythiophene. Organic semiconductors have been investigated to make organic thin film transistors. Pentacene has been used in the active region of the transistors. Transistors fabricated with pentacene do not have very high mobility. But in some applications, high mobility is not needed. In such application other properties of organic transistors are used, such as, ease of production and flexibility. Organic thin film transistors (OTFT) can find use as low density storage devices, such as smart cards or I.D. tags, and displays. OTFT are compatible with polymeric substrates and hence can find use as flexible computer screens. This project aims at making 'smart clothes', the cheap way, with pentacene based OTFT. This problem in lieu of thesis describes a way to deposit pentacene films and characterize it. Pentacene films were deposited on substrates and characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The substrate used was ~1500Å platinum on silicon wafer or bare silicon wafer. was used. A deposition system for vacuum deposition of pentacene was assembled. The XRD data for deposited pentacene films shows the presence of two phases, single …