A facile route towards controllable electric-optical performance of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal via the implantation of liquid crystalline epoxy network in conventional resin

Abstract A liquid crystalline epoxide was synthesized and its curing reactivity was compared with that of the conventional epoxy monomers. By utilizing the difference in curing reactivity between the liquid crystalline epoxide and non-liquid crystalline epoxy monomers, a coexistent system of polymer-dispersed and polymer-stabilized liquid crystal (LC) in the intelligent films can be obtained by two-step thermal curing method. If the later curing process was undertaken under an external electric field, the ordered microstructure of liquid crystalline epoxy polymer (LCEP) network can be implanted into the conventional epoxy resin. The competition of the anchoring effect on the LC molecules from the LCEP network and the conventional epoxy resin matrix was crucial to the electro-optical performance of the films. Moreover, the performance of the films can be adjusted by controlling the content of liquid crystalline epoxide and the external electric field applied during later curing. This approach can provide a facile route to regulate the electric-optical performance of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal films for practical applications.