Prospects of the use of fullerenes for the orientation of liquid-crystalline compositions

The dynamic characteristics of liquid crystal (LC) structures containing fullerenes C60 and C70 were studied, and the effect of fullerenes on the reorientation capacity of liquid crystal molecules was assessed. It is established that fullerenes C60 and C70 influence the operation time of polymer-dispersed LC cells containing photosensitive 2-cyclooctylamine-5-nitropyridine molecules. A possible mechanism of reorientation in the system is considered, and it is shown that fullerenes can provide for effective switching of the electrooptical response in such LC cells. Fullerenes have good prospects for use in orienting coatings of various types employed in the LC technology.