Probing the impact of bismuth-titanate based nanocomposite on the dielectric and electro-optical features of a nematic liquid crystal material

We report here the concentration and temperature dependent optical, electro-optical and dielectric studies on bismuth titanate (Bi2Ti2O7/Bi4Ti3O12) nanocomposite (BT2/BT4 NC, ∼42 nm) doped nematic liquid crystal (NLC, 5CB) mixtures using optical polarising microscope and dielectric spectroscopic techniques. The optical textures confirm the uniform dispersion and miscibility of NCs in 5CB for all concentrations (i.e. 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 wt%) and mixtures appear to be almost agglomeration free. The dielectric studies demonstrate the maximum changes in the dielectric parameters (dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss, loss factor and dielectric anisotropy) of 5CB sample for the 0.1 wt% mixture. Interestingly, the dielectric anisotropy of 5CB in 0.1 wt% mixture is increased by ∼ 11%. However, the dielectric memory effect (bias voltage ON-OFF) is observed maximum in the case of 1 wt% mixture. Similarly, the optical memory examined by bias voltage dependent (ON-OFF) optical textures is also significantly enhanced for 1 wt% mixture. The significant changes observed in dielectric properties of 5CB sample could be due to plausible interaction among NLC molecules and ionic impurities with BT2/BT4 NCs. Moreover, the enhanced volatile memory in BT2/BT4 NC-NLC mixture could be attributed to the dipole–dipole coupling between individual permanent dipole moment of anisotropic NLC molecules with the dipole moments generated by the ionic impurities agglomerated on the surface of high dielectric BT2/BT4 NCs. We strongly believe that such NCs-NLC mixtures would be certainly useful in the advancement of wearable devices (such as smart plenoptic cameras, watches etc.) and smart switchable windows.