Enhanced optical and dielectric properties of polymer dispersed liquid crystal for display applications

The compound material prepared by dispersing polymer into liquid crystal is of importance due to the improvement in its electro-optical properties. Polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is a functional material, of less than micron size liquid crystal, chemically dispersed in a polymer matrix. We report the influences of different concentrations of polymer, on the optical and dielectric behaviour of cholesteric liquid crystals. The fabry perot scattering studies in addition to polarizing optical microscopy were used to study the optical properties. Several novel phases in addition with the known phases were found for the compound materials. The dispersion also results in the large value of dielectric anisotropy which indicates possibility of this material to be used in forming a photo cured network. Our investigation shows a non-zero value of distribution parameter and also increase in dielectric constant, which is useful for display applications. © 2023