Effects of functionality of thiol monomer on electro-optical properties of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal films

ABSTRACT

In this paper, polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films which based on the acrylate and the thiol monomers were first prepared by ultraviolet-initiated polymerisation. The electro-optical properties and morphologies of the PDLC films were systematically investigated. The functionality of thiol monomers and their feed ratio showed great influence on the properties of the fabricated PDLC films because of the existence of competition between thiol–acrylate reaction and acrylate monomer polymerisation reaction. This made the polymer network and electro-optical properties of the PDLC films easily tunable by the introduction of the thiol monomers. When added four-functional thiol monomer PETMP with appropriate concentration into the PDLC system, lower driven voltage and higher contrast ratio were achieved.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal
• electro-optical properties
• liquid crystals
• morphology
• photopolymerisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Major Project of Beijing Science and Technology Program [Grant No.: Z141100003814011], the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant Nos.: 51272026, 51273022 and 51372029, 51333001].