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Book Details
Abstract
Bridging soft matter physics, materials science and engineering, polymer-modified liquid crystals are an exciting class of materials. They represent a vibrant field of research, promising advances in display technologies, as well as non-display uses.
Describing all aspects of polymer-dispersed and polymer-stabilized liquid crystals, the broad coverage of this book makes it a must-have resource for anyone working in the area. The reader will find expert accounts covering basic concepts, materials synthesis and polymerization techniques, properties of various dispersed and stabilized phases, and critical overviews of their applications.
Written by leaders in the field, this book provides a state-of-the-art treatment of the topic. It will be essential reading for graduate students, as well as academic and industrial researchers needing an up-to-date guide to the field.
A state-of-the-art account of current developments in polymer-dispersed liquid crystals and polymer-stabilized liquid crystals research.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Preface | v | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 1 | ||
| 1.1 What are Liquid Crystals? | 1 | ||
| 1.2 Liquid Crystal Phases | 4 | ||
| 1.2.1 Thermotropic Phases | 4 | ||
| 1.2.2 Lyotropic Phases | 7 | ||
| 1.3 Chirality and Chiral Liquid Crystals | 8 | ||
| 1.4 Polymer-modified Liquid Crystals | 14 | ||
| References | 16 | ||
| Chapter 2 Phase Diagrams, Phase Separation Mechanisms and Morphologies in Liquid Crystalline Materials: Principles and Theoretical Foundations | 19 | ||
| 2.1 Introduction | 19 | ||
| 2.2 Phase Transition Mechanisms | 20 | ||
| 2.3 Integration of Phase Diagrams, Phase Separation Mechanisms and Morphology | 21 | ||
| 2.4 Competition Between Chemical Kinetics and Phase Separation | 28 | ||
| 2.5 Effects of Chemical Structure on the Phase Diagram and Morphology | 30 | ||
| Acknowledgments | 32 | ||
| References | 32 | ||
| Chapter 3 Photo-reactive Mesogens | 37 | ||
| 3.1 Introduction | 37 | ||
| 3.2 Bifunctional Photo-reactive Monomers | 39 | ||
| 3.3 Summary | 43 | ||
| References | 43 | ||
| Chapter 4 Electron Beam Curing of Monomer/Liquid Crystal Blends | 45 | ||
| 4.1 Introduction | 45 | ||
| 4.2 Experimental | 47 | ||
| 4.2.1 Materials | 47 | ||
| 4.2.2 Sample Preparation | 48 | ||
| 4.2.2.1 Ultra-violet Curing | 48 | ||
| 4.2.2.2 Electron Beam Curing | 49 | ||
| 4.2.2.3 Polarized Optical Microscopy | 49 | ||
| 4.2.2.4 Infrared Spectroscopy | 49 | ||
| 4.2.2.5 Electro-optical Measurements | 49 | ||
| 4.3 Results and Discussion | 50 | ||
| 4.3.1 Phase Diagrams by POM | 50 | ||
| 4.3.2 Infrared Spectroscopy | 52 | ||
| 4.3.3 Morphologies | 54 | ||
| 4.3.4 Electro-optical Responses | 55 | ||
| 4.4 Conclusions | 57 | ||
| References | 57 | ||
| Chapter 5 Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals | 61 | ||
| 5.1 Introduction | 61 | ||
| 5.2 Non-patterned Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals | 62 | ||
| 5.2.1 Fabrication Methods and Working Principles | 62 | ||
| 5.2.2 Nano-PDLCs | 76 | ||
| 5.2.3 PDLCs Doped with Nanoparticles | 79 | ||
| 5.2.4 Dye-doped PDLCs | 81 | ||
| 5.2.5 Other Liquid Crystal-Polymer Composites | 85 | ||
| 5.3 Periodic Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals | 87 | ||
| 5.3.1 Photo-polymerization Regimes and Materials | 90 | ||
| 5.3.2 Electro-optical Properties of HPDLCs in Transmission Geometry | 93 | ||
| 5.3.3 Electro-optical Properties of HPDLCs in Reflection Geometry | 95 | ||
| 5.4 POLICRYPS Gratings | 97 | ||
| Acknowledgments | 101 | ||
| References | 101 | ||
| Chapter 6 Introduction to Polymer Stabilized Liquid Crystals | 105 | ||
| 6.1 General Sample Preparation | 105 | ||
| 6.2 Polymer Networks Templating Liquid Crystalline Order | 106 | ||
| 6.3 Polymer Network Morphology and Electro-optic Performance | 114 | ||
| References | 129 | ||
| Chapter 7 Polymer-stabilized Nematics and Their Applications | 131 | ||
| 7.1 Introduction | 131 | ||
| 7.2 Influence of Polymer Stabilization on the Electro-optic Characteristics | 136 | ||
| 7.2.1 Planar-aligned Nematic Devices with Transverse Electric Fields | 137 | ||
| 7.2.1.1 Influence of the Polymer on the Threshold Voltage | 137 | ||
| 7.2.1.2 Influence of the Polymer Network on the Response Time | 145 | ||
| 7.2.1.3 Curing Temperature and UV Intensity | 147 | ||
| 7.2.2 In-plane and Fringe-field Switching Nematic Devices | 148 | ||
| 7.2.3 Polymer-stabilized Twisted Nematic and Vertically-aligned Nematic Devices | 151 | ||
| 7.2.4 Polymer Stabilization in π-cells | 156 | ||
| 7.3 Advanced Fabrication Techniques for Polymer-stabilized Nematic Devices | 158 | ||
| 7.4 Polymer-stabilized Nematic Liquid Crystal Microlenses | 160 | ||
| 7.5 Summary | 162 | ||
| References | 163 | ||
| Chapter 8 Electrical Color Tuning in Polymer-stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals | 166 | ||
| 8.1 Introduction | 166 | ||
| 8.2 Construction of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal | 167 | ||
| 8.3 States of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal and their Optical Properties | 168 | ||
| 8.4 Transitions Between Cholesteric States | 172 | ||
| 8.5 Polymer-stabilized Ch Liquid Crystals | 175 | ||
| 8.6 Polymer-stabilized Ch Liquid Crystals With Positive Dielectric Anisotropy | 178 | ||
| 8.6.1 Narrow Reflection Band PSCLC | 178 | ||
| 8.6.2 Broad Reflection Band PSCLC | 181 | ||
| 8.7 PSCLCs with Negative Dielectric Anisotropy | 184 | ||
| 8.8 Conclusion | 190 | ||
| References | 191 | ||
| Chapter 9 Polymer Stabilized Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals and their Applications | 195 | ||
| 9.1 Introduction | 195 | ||
| 9.2 Polymerization in SmC* Phase Under DC Electric Field | 197 | ||
| 9.3 Polymerization in SmC* Phase Under AC Electric Field | 199 | ||
| 9.4 Polymerization in SmA Phase Under Zero Field Condition | 204 | ||
| References | 206 | ||
| Chapter 10 Electropolymerisation of (Meth) acrylic Mesogenic Monomers | 208 | ||
| 10.1 Introduction | 208 | ||
| 10.2 Polymerisation Mechanisms | 209 | ||
| 10.2.1 Plasma Polymerisation | 209 | ||
| 10.2.2 Electrochemical Polymerisation | 210 | ||
| 10.2.2.1 Electrochemical Polymerisation of Vinylic Monomers | 210 | ||
| 10.2.2.2 Electropolymerisation of Methyl Methacrylate at the Cathode | 211 | ||
| 10.2.2.3 Electropolymerisation of Methyl Methacrylate at the Anode | 211 | ||
| 10.2.2.4 Electrochemical Polymerisation of Intrinsic Conductive Polymers | 212 | ||
| 10.2.2.5 Electrografting | 212 | ||
| 10.2.2.6 Initiatorless Electropolymerisation in Bulk | 214 | ||
| 10.2.2.7 Electropolymerisation of Acrylic Phenyl Benzoates (A6En) | 216 | ||
| 10.3 Characterization Techniques | 217 | ||
| 10.3.1 Polarized Optical Microscopy (POM) | 217 | ||
| 10.3.2 Molecular Weight Study by Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) | 220 | ||
| 10.3.3 X-ray Diffraction | 225 | ||
| 10.3.3.1 Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) | 225 | ||
| 10.3.3.2 Grazing Incidence Wide-angle X-ray Scattering (GIWAXS) | 225 | ||
| 10.4 Electropolymerisation of Mesogenic Acrylic Monomers in Liquid Crystalline Hosts | 229 | ||
| 10.4.1 Electropolymerisation in a Nematic Host | 229 | ||
| 10.4.2 Electropolymerisation in Smectic A* and C* (Ferroelectric) Hosts | 233 | ||
| 10.5 Conclusions and Outlook | 236 | ||
| References | 237 | ||
| Chapter 11 Polymer-stabilized Antiferroelectric Liquid Crystals and Their Applications | 243 | ||
| 11.1 Introduction | 243 | ||
| 11.2 The Antiferroelectric Liquid Crystal Display | 245 | ||
| 11.2.1 The Smectic Ca* Phase | 245 | ||
| 11.2.2 The AFLC Display Geometry | 245 | ||
| 11.2.3 Contrast | 248 | ||
| 11.2.4 Switching Speed | 248 | ||
| 11.2.5 Memory Type Devices | 250 | ||
| 11.3 Polymer-stabilization | 250 | ||
| 11.3.1 In-situ Photopolymerization | 250 | ||
| 11.3.2 Addition of Polymers | 252 | ||
| 11.4 Examples of Polymer-stabilized AFLC Devices | 253 | ||
| 11.4.1 Bookshelf Structure | 253 | ||
| 11.4.2 Surface-stabilization and Helix Suppression | 253 | ||
| 11.4.3 Polymer-stabilized States | 254 | ||
| 11.4.4 Greyscale | 260 | ||
| 11.4.5 Switching Dynamics | 262 | ||
| 11.5 Effects on Physical Properties | 266 | ||
| 11.5.1 Phase Sequence | 266 | ||
| 11.5.2 Molecular Tilt Angle | 267 | ||
| 11.5.3 Spontaneous Polarization | 268 | ||
| 11.5.4 Dielectric Spectroscopy | 268 | ||
| 11.5.5 Selective Reflection and Pitch Stabilization | 269 | ||
| 11.6 Discussion | 271 | ||
| References | 273 | ||
| Chapter 12 Polymer-stabilized Frustrated Phases | 278 | ||
| 12.1 Introduction | 278 | ||
| 12.2 Polymer-stabilized Blue Phases (PSBPs) | 278 | ||
| 12.3 Polymer-stabilized Twist Grain Boundary Phases (PSTGB) | 286 | ||
| References | 290 | ||
| Chapter 13 Polymer-stabilized Blue Phase Liquid Crystal Displays | 292 | ||
| 13.1 Introduction | 292 | ||
| 13.2 Physical Properties of PS-BPLCs | 294 | ||
| 13.2.1 Optical Properties of PS-BPLCs Without Electric Field | 294 | ||
| 13.2.2 Electric Field Effects | 294 | ||
| 13.3 Modeling Physics of BPLCDs | 297 | ||
| 13.4 Transmissive PS-BPLCDs | 300 | ||
| 13.4.1 IPS Mode | 300 | ||
| 13.4.1.1 Etched Substrate | 303 | ||
| 13.4.1.2 Protrusion Electrode | 304 | ||
| 13.4.1.3 Corrugated Electrode | 305 | ||
| 13.4.1.4 Vertical Field Switching | 307 | ||
| 13.5 Reflective PS-BPLCDs | 309 | ||
| 13.5.1 Reflective Projectors | 309 | ||
| 13.5.2 Direct-view Reflective PS-BPLCD Based on Bragg Reflection | 311 | ||
| 13.6 Transflective PS-BPLCDs | 312 | ||
| 13.7 Conclusion | 314 | ||
| Acknowledgments | 315 | ||
| References | 315 | ||
| Chapter 14 Polymer Dissolved Liquid Crystals | 321 | ||
| 14.1 Introduction | 321 | ||
| 14.2 Phase Diagrams | 322 | ||
| 14.3 Rheology and Viscoelasticity | 323 | ||
| 14.4 Photorefractivity | 323 | ||
| 14.5 Polymer Dissolved Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals | 325 | ||
| 14.6 Polymers Dissolved in Blue Phases and TGB Phases | 327 | ||
| References | 329 | ||
| Chapter 15 Stabilization of Discotic Liquid Crystals | 332 | ||
| 15.1 Introduction | 332 | ||
| 15.2 Stabilization of Discotic Liquid Crystals by Charge Transfer Complexation | 333 | ||
| 15.3 Stabilization of Columnar Phase by Complementary Polytropic Interaction | 337 | ||
| 15.4 Comparison Between Complementary Polytropic Interaction and Charge Transfer Concepts | 339 | ||
| 15.5 Polymer Dispersed Discotic Liquid Crystals | 342 | ||
| 15.6 Summary | 343 | ||
| References | 344 | ||
| Chapter 16 Polymer Modified Nanoparticle Laden Liquid Crystals | 348 | ||
| 16.1 Introduction | 348 | ||
| 16.2 Investigated Systems and Electro-optic Performance | 349 | ||
| 16.2.1 Polymer Modified Nanoparticle Doped Nematic Liquid Crystals | 349 | ||
| 16.2.1.1 Nematic PDLC system | 350 | ||
| 16.2.1.2 Nematic PSLC system | 351 | ||
| 16.2.2 Polymer Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystal-aerosil Particle Composites | 352 | ||
| 16.2.3 Polymer Stabilized Nanoparticle Doped Blue Phase Liquid Crystals | 354 | ||
| 16.2.4 Polymer Stabilized Nanotube Reinforced Liquid Crystals | 358 | ||
| 16.2.5 Nanoparticles in LC Elastomers | 360 | ||
| 16.3 Concluding Remarks | 363 | ||
| References | 363 | ||
| Subject Index | 367 |