Recent Advances in Liquid Crystal/Polymer Composites and Their Applications in Reverse⁃mode Electrically Switchable Light⁃transmittance Controllable Films

doi:10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.210373

Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (10): 1213-1225.DOI: 10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.210373

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Recent Advances in Liquid Crystal/Polymer Composites and Their Applications in Reverse⁃mode Electrically Switchable Light⁃transmittance Controllable Films

Cheng ZOU¹, Yan-Zi GAO¹, Mei-Na YU¹, Jiu-Mei XIAO², Lan-Ying ZHANG, Huai YANG¹()

¹Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering & Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology，University of Science and Technology Beijing，Beijing 100083，China
²School of Mathematics and Physics，University of Science and Technology Beijing，Beijing 100083，China
³School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Received:2021-07-29 Accepted:2021-09-01 Published:2021-10-01 Online:2021-10-15
Contact: Huai YANG
About author:yanghuai@pku.edu.cn
Supported by:
National Natural Science Foundation of China(11280232);the National Key R&D Program of China(2020YFE0100200)

Abstract

Abstract:

Liquid crystals as the basic materials in modern era of information age have been wildly commercially used in displays. Liquid crystal/polymer composites not only have the advantages of anisotropy and stimulus responsive characteristics similar with liquid crystals， but also have the processibility and cost-effectiveness similar with polymers， which have promising applications in building glass and smart car windows. Besides， the interactions between liquid crystals and polymers will affect the molecular alignment of liquid crystals， meanwhile liquid crystals could also affect the formation direction of polymer networks. Thus a lot of interest has been motivated in the study of liquid crystal/polymer composites. Different types of liquid crystal/polymer composites， their characteristics， applications in light-transmittance controllable films and recent advances in reverse-mode films are reviewed. In the framework， we will make emphasis on the summary of the progress in preparation of reverse-mode light-transmittance controllable films based on liquid crystal/polymer composites. Simultaneously， the challenges and applications of reverse-mode film are also discussed and prospected.

Key words: Polymer, Liquid crystals, Composites, Reverse-mode, Light-transmittance controllable films

CLC Number:

O631.1

Cheng ZOU, Yan-Zi GAO, Mei-Na YU, Jiu-Mei XIAO, Lan-Ying ZHANG, Huai YANG. Recent Advances in Liquid Crystal/Polymer Composites and Their Applications in Reverse⁃mode Electrically Switchable Light⁃transmittance Controllable Films[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry, 2021, 38(10): 1213-1225.

Figures/Tables 16

Fig.1 Schematic representation of the microstructures for different types of liquid crystal/polymer composites：（a） polymer-dispersed liquid crystals，（b） polymer-stabilized liquid crystals，（c） polymer-wall-stabilized liquid crystals，（d） polymer-dispersed & -stabilized liquid crystals

Fig.2 Typical scanning electron microscope （SEM） images of PDLC［23］： A1—A4 were samples with different proportions of difunctional and trifunctional epoxy monomers

Fig. 3 Typical SEM images of PSLC［25］：（a）—（d） were samples with different chiral dopants in the same pitch

Fig. 4 Typical （a） laser scanning confocal microscope image and （b） SEM image of PWSLC［31］

Fig.5 Typical SEM images of PD&SLC［32］：（a） schematic representation of the microstructure，（b） top-view SEM image of the film，（c） side-view SEM image of the polymer microstructure，（d） side-view SEM image of the film

Fig. 6 Typical side-view SEM images of liquid crystal/polymer composites［19］（a） PDLC；（b） PSLC；（c） PD&SLC

Fig.7 （a） Schematic diagram and （b） photographs of the normal-mode electrically switchable light-transmittance controllable film［40］

Fig.8 （a） Schematic diagram and （b） photographs of the reverse-mode electrically switchable light-transmittance controllable film［36］

Fig.9 （a） Schematic diagram，（b） photographs，（c） transmittance and haze dependence on electric-field intensity and （d） polarized optical microscope images of the reverse-mode film based on nematic liquid crystals with negative dielectric anisotropy［36］

Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the reverse-mode film based on polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals［37］

Fig.11 Schematic diagram of the reverse-mode film based on polymer stabilized dual-frenquency liquid crystals［48］

Fig.12 Schematic diagram of the charge distribution in the reverse-mode PDLC based on built-in electric fields［50］： built-in DC electric field （Edc） across the film with （a） a highly conductive liquid crystal，（b） a highly conductive polymer matrix，（c） ions frozen in the liquid crystal/polymer interface

Fig.13 Schematic diagram of the reverse-mode PDLC prepared by a thermal induced and UV polymerization induced two-step phase separation method［51］

Fig.14 Schematic diagram of the reverse-mode film based on PWSLC［53］

Fig.15 （a）—（d） Schematic diagram of a two-step UV polymerization route for making the PD&PSLC film and （e） some of the chemical structures and physical properties of the reagents used in the study［55］

Fig.16 （a） Shearing force-displacement curves of the commercial PDLCs and the as-made LCs/PCs containing 0 %， 0.5 %， 1.0 % and 2.0 % （mass percent）LCPMs， respectively. （b） Digital photographs demonstrating the flexibility and robustness of the as-made LCs/PC：in the diagram E is short for electric field， LE is short for low-frequency electric field， HE is short for high-frequency electric field［55］

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Recent Advances in Liquid Crystal/Polymer Composites and Their Applications in Reverse⁃mode Electrically Switchable Light⁃transmittance Controllable Films

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