SEM Investigations of the Polymer Morphology in the Liquid Crystal-Polymer Composites with Different Polymer Contents

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy was employed to study the evolution of the morphology of liquid crystal-polymer composites with increasing contents of a polymer. The composites were formed by a nematic mixture E7 from Merck and a photocurable adhesive NOA65 from Norland by means of photoseparation. The polymer phase reveals a smooth transition from a polymer network to a sponge-like structure and then to the ‘Swiss cheese’ morphology with the increasing fraction of a polymer. It is established that the best electro-optic performance is demonstrated by samples with the well-developed sponge-like structure of the polymer phase.

Keywords:

• liquid crystal
• PDLC
• polymer network
• polymer network liquid crystal

Acknowledgments

These studies were supported in part by the NAS of Ukraine (grant No VC89/440).