Regulating content of thiol/LC and UV intensity to optimize morphology and electro-optical performance of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal

ABSTRACT

In the study, Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films were prepared by the ultraviolet (UV)-induced polymerisation from the composites of nematic liquid crystal (LC)/thiol/acrylate. The effects of the content of LC/thiol/acrylate and the UV intensity on the morphology of polymer network and the electro-optical properties of the PDLC films were investigated. It was demonstrated that the crosslinking density of the polymer network increases with the decreasing content of LC/thiol and the enhancing UV intensity. And the electro-optical properties of the PDLC could be regulated by the crosslinking density of the polymer network. It is suggested that at the lower of LC content there is possibility to achieve both lower driven voltage and the higher CR, which can save massive cost on production of PDLC. Meanwhile it illustrates subsequently that the introduction of the thiol and the optimisation of UV intensity can further lessen the driven voltage. Thereby it is of great significance for the application of PDLC.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer dispersed liquid crystal
• polymer network
• liquid crystal
• thiol
• acrylate
• 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 Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51333001, 51773017, 51473020 and U1501244), the Major Project of Beijing Science and Technology Program (Grant No Z151100003315023), the Guangdong Innovative Research Team Program (No. 2013C102) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. FRF-GF-17-B8).