A study on the polymer structures and electro-optical properties of epoxy-mercaptan-based polymer dispersed liquid crystal films

ABSTRACT

In this paper, polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films based on epoxy-mercaptan system were prepared by thermal-initiated polymerization. The effects of the liquid crystal (LC) content, the proportion and the functionality of epoxy monomers on the polymer structures and electro-optical properties of the as-made PDLC films were investigated systematically. It was found that the morphologies of the polymer matrix can be altered from polymer meshes to polymer balls by increasing the LC content as well as the functionality of epoxy monomers. Accordingly, the electro-optical properties could be regulated by the morphologies of polymer networks. Especially, the as-made PDLC films with homogeneous porous structures exhibited the optimal electro-optical properties. Consequently, this work offers a meaningful approach to control the microstructures and optimize the electro-optical properties of PDLC films, which indeed can form a wonderful footstone for the wide application of PDLC.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer dispersed liquid crystal
• epoxy
• mercaptan
• polymer structures
• electro-optical properties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [Grant No. 2018YFB0703704], the Ministry of Education for Equipment Pre-Research [Grant No. 6141A020222, 6141A020332], the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant No. 51720105002, 51561135014, and 51573003].