Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.368, 4419-4427, 2001
Polymer dispersed liquid crystal films prepared by electron beam curing: Influence of the nature of the polymer precursor
Polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films were prepared by a polymerization induced phase separation (PIPS) process of mixtures composed of monomers and the nematic liquid crystal (LC) E7. Electron beam (EB) radiation was employed to initiate the PIPS process. Mixtures of the LC E7 and selected well characterized di- and tri-functional acrylate monomers as polymer precursors have been exposed to a defined amount of dose of EB radiation. Tripropylene-glycoldiacrylate (TPGDA), propoxylated glyceroltriacrylate (GPTA), and a 1:1 mixture of these materials were used as monomers. The concentration of E7 in the initial mixture was kept constant at 70 weight-%, It was shown that the electro-optical properties strongly depend on the nature and the functionality of the monomers.