Mechanism of the effect of gel doping on the electro-optical properties of PDLC

ABSTRACT

In this study, the gel molecules were further mixed with liquid crystal polymerisable monomers and introduced into the polymer matrix, and by selecting the ratios of three kinds of gel molecules to polymer monomers, namely, DMDBS, MDBS, and DBS, the liquid crystal/physical gel/polymer composite dispersed liquid crystal thin films with low driving voltage was prepared, and the transitions of transparency and scattering of the thin films were realised and theoretically analysed by the concentration of the gels, polymerisation temperature and polymerisation light intensity on the mechanism of electro-optical properties of the composite system. The results show that the doping of gel leads to a significant improvement in the electro-optical performance of PDLC, unfortunately, the contrast also decreases at the same time.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Gel
• DBS
• MDBS
• DMDBS
• cholesteric phase liquid crystals

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China [No. 2022YFB3603703], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 52173263], the Qinchuangyuan High-level Talent Project of Shaanxi [No. QCYRCXM-2022-219], the Xi’an Science and Technology Plan Project of Shaanxi Province (No. 2023JH-ZCGJ-0068), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China [NO.2024JC-YBMS-445], and the Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi Universities.