Electro-optic, thermo-optic and dielectric responses of multiwalled carbon nanotube doped ferroelectric liquid crystal thin films

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) doped ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) (KCFLC10R) thin films in different (0.00, 0.01 and 0.03 wt./wt.%) ratios have been prepared and studied. In doped sample, fastening of switching time about -80% has been observed. In addition to that, an increase in spontaneous polarization and decrease in rotational viscosity in doped samples than pure FLC sample was also noticed. Improvement in electro-optic responses in doped cells is due to the ion trapping which results an enhancement in effective electric field applied to the liquid crystal cells. Dielectric measurements revealed a decrease in permittivity in doped sample cell as compared to pure FLC cell. Conductivity behavior with MWCNTs concentration has been investigated. MWCNTs doping has good response in terms of increased contrast ratio and low threshold voltage over pure FLC cell. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.