Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.353, 417-426, 2000
Electrooptical characterization of various PDLC materials
PDLC materials are prepared by various methods: Polymerization Induced Phase Separation (PIPS), Solution Induced Phase Separation (SIPS) and encapsulation. The aim of the present study was to compare and optimize the electrooptical and switching properties of the PDLC samples. The electrooptical and switching properties of PDLC films show a strong dependence on curing time of the polymer matrix, which my be explained by the effective increase of anchoring strength at the interface of the polymer and liquid crystal, depending on the area fraction of the interface, size and shape of LC droplets, the polymer stiffness and resistivity changing in the course of crosslinking polymerization. PDLC films prepared from flexible amorphous polyester resin containing dispersed nematic LC have shown the best electrooptical and switching properties in the case of polyester resin crosslinked with diacrylane and nematic LC mixture (W-52) with matched refractive index to polyester matrix (n(p) approximate to n(0), n(p) = 1.505, n(0) = 1.509);
Keywords:Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals;electrooptical and switching studies;effect of temperature;LC content;curing time