A Study on Electro-Optical Properties of Liquid Crystals/Polymer Composites with Directional Morphology

The unsatisfactory electro-optical properties of polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) are still an important factor limiting its further development and application, in which high haze off-state, low driving voltage, and fast response time have been the goals pursued by researchers. In this work, two types of PDLC with different polymer morphologies were prepared, and their electro-optical properties were measured. An optical model for nonsmooth multilayer film was also built. The results show that the samples prepared with hexyl acrylate are characterized by low haze, low driving voltage, and fast response. On the contrary, the samples prepared by isooctyl acrylate and isodecyl acrylate have very high haze but poor performance in driving voltage and response time. Compared with the traditional means of morphology control, the present work has the advantages of a simple preparation method and obvious phenomena. It provides a means for preparation of liquid crystal/polymer composites meeting different requirements in the future, which can be achieved by introducing specific types of monomers.