Provided are a method for producing a thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer (TLCP) film having an improved thermo-adhesive property, a circuit board, and a method for producing the same. The production method of the TLCP film includes preparing a TLCP film as the adherend film and a TLCP film as the adhesive film;

examining each of the prepared TLCP films for a relative intensity calculated as a ratio in percentage of a sum of peak areas of C—O bond peak and COO bond peak based on the total area of C1s peaks in the XPS spectral profile so as to calculate a relative intensity X (%) as for the prepared adherend film and a relative intensity Y (%) as for the prepared adhesive film; and

controlling the TLCP film as the adhesive film to have a relative intensity Y by selection or activation treatment of the adhesive film so that the relative intensity X of the adherend film and the relative intensity Y of the controlled adhesive film satisfy the following formulae (1) and (2):

38<X+Y<65   (1)

−8.0<Y−X<8.0   (2).

A method of ink-extrusion printing an object, including providing a mixture including liquid crystal monomers and photo-catalyzing or heating the mixture to produce a liquid crystal ink. The ink is in a nematic phase. The method includes extruding the ink through a print-head orifice moving along a print direction to form an extruded film of the object. The extruded film exhibits birefringence. Also disclosed are a liquid crystal ink. The ink includes a mixture including liquid crystal monomers. The mixture when at a target printing temperature is in a nematic phase. Also disclosed is ink-extrusion-printed object. The object includes an extrusion-printed film including a nematic liquid crystal elastomer, wherein the film exhibits birefringence along an extrusion axis of the film.

An eye-mountable device is provided that includes a plurality of rigid polymer layers separated by liquid crystal layers. Certain eye-mountable devices includes a first rigid polymer layer, a second rigid polymer layer, and a liquid crystal layer between the first and second rigid polymer layers. The liquid crystal layer has a refractive index that is electrically controllable between an ordinary refractive index and an extraordinary refractive index, and the first rigid polymer layer and second rigid polymer layer include materials having a refractive index similar to the ordinary refractive index of the liquid crystal layer. The first rigid polymer layer and second rigid polymer layer may also include a combination of monomer-derived units that provide cast-moldable materials with high oxygen permeability. Methods for fabricating the eye-mountable device and for changing the focal length of the eye-mountable device are also provided.

Provided are a laminate, a circuit board, and a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) film comprised therein. The laminate comprises a metal foil and an LCP film. The LCP film in the laminate has a dissipation factor before water absorption (Df′.sub.0), a dissipation factor after water absorption (Df′.sub.1), and a relative percentage difference between dissipation factors (ΔDf′), which is calculated by the following equation: $\Delta {\mathrm{Df}}^{\prime }\left(\%\right)=\frac{.Math.{\mathrm{Df}}_1^{\prime }-{\mathrm{Df}}_0^{\prime }.Math.}{{\mathrm{Df}}_0^{\prime }}\times 100\%;$
wherein ΔDf′ may be less than or equal to 16%. By controlling ΔDf′ of the LCP film in the laminate, the insertion loss of a circuit board comprising a laminate during signal transmission in low-, medium-, and/or high-frequency bands is decreased and/or inhibited. In addition, the difference between the insertion losses of signal transmission before and after water absorption is decreased, so the laminate is suitable for high-end or outdoor high-frequency electronic products.

A liquid crystal polyester resin for laminate, wherein, in a molecular weight distribution of an absolute molecular weight measured by a gel permeation chromatograph/light scattering method, an area fraction of a portion having an absolute molecular weight of 10,000 or less is 10 to 40%, and an area fraction of a portion having an absolute molecular weight of 50,000 or more is 3 to 20%, relative to 100% of the total peak area.

An eye-mountable device is provided that includes a plurality of rigid polymer layers separated by liquid crystal layers. Certain eye-mountable devices includes a first rigid polymer layer, a second rigid polymer layer, and a liquid crystal layer between the first and second rigid polymer layers. The liquid crystal layer has a refractive index that is electrically controllable between an ordinary refractive index and an extraordinary refractive index, and the first rigid polymer layer and second rigid polymer layer include materials having a refractive index similar to the ordinary refractive index of the liquid crystal layer. The first rigid polymer layer and second rigid polymer layer may also include a combination of monomer-derived units that provide cast-moldable materials with high oxygen permeability. Methods for fabricating the eye-mountable device and for changing the focal length of the eye-mountable device are also provided.

A method of producing a thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer film includes forming a thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer film having opposite surfaces by molding a thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer, melting the thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer film by heating the thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer film with the opposite surfaces being in contact with two support sheets at a temperature of from a melting point of the thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer to a temperature higher than the melting point by 70° C., cooling the melted thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer film to a temperature equal to or less than a crystallization temperature of the thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer at a cooling rate of from 3° C. per second to 7° C. per second, and separating the cooled thermoplastic liquid-crystal polymer film from the support sheets.

Provided are a decorative film for molding including a cholesteric liquid crystal layer on a base material, in which the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is a layer formed by curing a liquid crystal composition which includes, with respect to a total solid content of the liquid crystal composition, 25% by mass or more of a cholesteric liquid crystal compound having one ethylenic unsaturated group or one cyclic ether group; a molded product using the decorative film for molding; and a molding method.

A three-dimensional printing method is provided. The method comprises selectively forming a three-dimensional structure from a polymer composition. The polymer composition comprises a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer and exhibits a complex viscosity of from about 50 to about 1,000 Pa-s, as determined by a parallel plate rheometer at an angular frequency of 0.63 radians per second, constant strain amplitude of 1%, and temperature 15° C. above the melting temperature of the polymer composition.

Provided are an LCP film and a laminate comprising the same. The LCP film is made of an LCP resin comprising a structural unit represented by Formula (1): -L.sub.1-Ar-L.sub.2- (1), wherein -L.sub.1- and -L.sub.2- are respectively —O— or —CO—; —Ar— is an arylene group. Formula (1) comprises structural units

##STR00001##

Based on a total molar number of the structural unit represented by Formula (1), a molar number of the structural unit represented by Formula (I) is in the range from 15 mole % to 40 mole %, and a sum of molar numbers of the structural units represented by Formulae (I) and (II) is in the range from 80 mole % to 100 mole %. The LCP film has a thickness and a transmittance, wherein when values of the thickness (in μm) and the transmittance are put into Formula (III), the obtained value is from 0.055 to 0.090. Formula (III): Log(1/TT %)/(Thickness).sup.0.5.