The relationship between crosslinker, liquid crystal, and magnetic nanomaterial doping on electro-optical properties of PDLC

ABSTRACT

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is a striking material that has a great role in optoelectronic display devices. In this paper, PDLC films were prepared by the polymerisation-induced phase separation (PIPS) process under the same curing temperature, UV intensity, and photo-initiator dosage. The morphology and electro-optical properties of PDLC with crosslinker content, the liquid crystal content, and magnetic nanomaterial doping were comprehensively investigated. Different crosslinker and liquid crystal contents changed the crosslinker degree and free radical content in the blends, which changed the polymer network size while changing the electro-optical properties of PDLC. The magnetic nanomaterials dispersed in PDLC established the intrinsic potential and reduced the threshold voltage (24.1 V) and saturation voltage (54.5 V) were obtained at a Fe₃O₄ NPs doping concentration of 1.0 wt%, which led to a CR of 89.9 and a t_off of 14.1 ms. This work provides a feasible method to optimise the electro-optical properties of PDLC and provides the possibility for the wide application of PDLC.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal
• crosslinker
• magnetic nanomaterial
• electro-optical properties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China [Program No.2021JM-531, No.2021GY-205, No.2021JQ-877], the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Grant No. FRF-GF-19-003B], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 52073027, 51973017, 51773017], Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department [Program No.20JK0959].