Monitoring of Photopolymerization Through Dielectric Spectroscopy

Abstract

Polymer stabilized liquid crystal cells containing by weight 88.4% E48, 8.4% CB15 and 2.8% DSM monomer with photoinitiator are monitored by dielectric spectroscopy during polymerization by UV radiation. During the polymerization process, the dielectric loss decreases by approximately 50% independent of the UV intensity with only a slight change in capacitance. Optical and dielectric studies of the cured cells indicate that the morphology of the polymer gel is a function of the intensity of the UV radiation.