Lyotropic liquid crystal guest–host material and anisotropic thin films for optical applications

Abstract

We propose a new approach for the production of thin film optical functional materials. The method is based on molecular design whereby two different types of lyotropic liquid crystals (LC), lyotropic LC based on columnar supramolecules and water-soluble rod-like polymer molecules are mixed. The resulting lyotropic guest–host system allows production of optical retardation films with tunable optical anisotropy controlled by composition of the guest–host system. Coatable retarders can be used in modern liquid crystal displays and TVs for optical compensation and enhancement of the LCD's performance.

Keywords:

• liquid crystal display
• lyotropic liquid crystal
• optical anisotropy
• retarder
• thin film

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr Igor Ponomaryov (A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia) for his advice related to the field of polymer chemistry.