Optical and Electrical Characterization of Polymer Dispersed Nematic Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Polymer dispersed liquid crystals are composite functional materials having a variety of application ranging from display to smart window. These materials consist of liquid crystal in which micron size droplets of polymer is dispersed. In the present study the effect of different concentration of polymer 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate on optical and electrical properties of nematic liquid crystal 4-cynophenyl 4-n-hexyl benzoate were investigated by various techniques. The investigation of textures at different temperatures was performed by polarizing optical microscopy for the determination of phase transition temperature. The fabry perot scattering studies using low powered laser beam was used for the confirmation of phase transition temperature. Various textures were found according to the orientation of liquid crystal and polymer. The optical and electrical properties of pure liquid crystal were found to enhance after dispersing polymer. Our investigation suggest that after dispersing polymer into nematic liquid crystal, the material shows more stability, less flicking and sticking of image for display applications.