Can liquid crystalline polymers find application in the field of protective coatings?

Glycidyl terminated rigid‐rod monomers can be cured in a liquid crystalline state. The resulting thermoset offers high potential as protective coating thanks to its outstanding properties. In particular a superior fracture toughness and a reduced internal stress are two typical parameters offered by this new class of compounds. Transport properties are not strongly affected by the state of order of the cross‐linked resin, in the sense that gas permeabilities are of the same order of magnitude of conventional epoxy resins.