Orientation of liquid crystal molecules in polydimethylsiloxane micro-channels

ABSTRACT

The orientation of liquid crystal (LC) molecules confined in polydimethylsiloxane micro-channels, which are produced using mould-replica technique, with a rectangular cross section, is studied. The rod-like molecules of the LC adopt the vertical anchoring at every surface of the channels. The macroscopic alignment of the confined LC can be changed by altering the aspect ratio of the channels. The change in the macroscopic alignment of the LC is attributed directly to the restructuring of the proportion of the number of molecules anchored to the respective surfaces due to the changes in specific area of the bounding surface of the channels. Solutions for the elastic energy function obtained using conformal mapping method were used to predict director profile of the LC in the confinement.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Liquid crystal alignment
• micro-replica
• polymer micro-channel
• polydimethylsiloxane confinement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China [grant number MOST103-2221-E110-037].