Issue 22, 2019, Issue in Progress

Acrylate-assisted fractal nanostructured polymer dispersed liquid crystal droplet based vibrant colored smart-windows

Abstract

We have studied liquid crystals (LCs) and acrylate-assisted thiol–ene compositions to synthesize dye based colorful polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) without using a photo-initiator for smart-windows applications. A typical PDLC mixture was prepared by mixing LCs with UV-curable monomers, which included triethylene glycol diacrylate (TEGDA), trimethylolpropane diallyl ether (TMPDE, di-functional ene monomer), trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) (TMPTMP, a thiol as a cross-linker), and a dichroic dye. The ratios of the TMPDE/TMPTMP and the LCs/TEGDA showed significant effects in altering the properties of the UV-cured PDLCs. During the curing process, the monomers polymerize and led to the encapsulation of the LCs in the form of interesting fractal nanostructures by a polymerization induced phase separation process. The switching time, electro-optical properties, power consumption, and ageing of the fabricated PDLCs were investigated. It was possible to achieve a 70–80% contrast (ΔT) at a voltage difference of ∼70 V with a fast switching time (τ) as low as < 20 milliseconds (ms) and low power consumption. These PDLCs had a low threshold voltage that ranged between 10 and 20 V. The sustainability of the fabricated UV-cured PDLCs was analyzed for up to 90 days, and the PDLCs were observed to be stable.

Graphical abstract: Acrylate-assisted fractal nanostructured polymer dispersed liquid crystal droplet based vibrant colored smart-windows

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Jan 2019
Accepted
17 Apr 2019
First published
24 Apr 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 12645-12655

Acrylate-assisted fractal nanostructured polymer dispersed liquid crystal droplet based vibrant colored smart-windows

S. Kumar, H. Hong, W. Choi, I. Akhtar, M. A. Rehman and Y. Seo, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 12645 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA00729F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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