Influence of ZnO nanoparticle concentration on electro-optic and dielectric properties of ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture

We present here the electro-optic and dielectric properties of ZnO nanoparticle doped ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixtures. A small quantity of ZnO nanoparticles (0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 wt.%) was dispersed into FLC with a thickness of 5.0 +/- 0.2 mu m. The enhancement in physical parameters is found to be dependent on ZnO nanoparticle concentration. The lower concentration of ZnO nanoparticles (0.1-0.3wt.%) enhances the value of spontaneous polarization and decreases for higher concentration (0.5-1.0 wt.%). The fastening of response time has also been noticed in the doped sample cells up to 0.3 wt.% concentration. Dielectric measurements revealed a concentration dependence effect in all sample cells. A low threshold voltage and improved contrast ratio has been noticed for 0.3 wt.% concentration over other doped samples. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.