Tunable topographical cellulose matrices for electro-optical liquid crystal cells

In this work we have used acetoxypropylcellulose (APC) to produce free standing solid films (∼60 μm) that were used for assembling electro-optical devices. Thin films were obtained from concentrated lyotropic solutions of cellulose derivatives. Induced by the cast and shearing preparation conditions wrinkles and band textures can be observed in their free-surface plane. In order to eliminate and control these textures we used a process similar to that introducted in literature [1] which consists of storing the films in the same solvent-vapour atmosphere as the solution system. Lyotropic APC liquid crystalline solutions in dymethylacetamide (DMA) with crosslinker were prepared, thin films were obtained by using a shear/casting technique and stored in the solvent-vapour atmosphere until a planar structure was achieved. The dried crosslinked films were analyzed by optical polarised microscopy (POM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The films with different topographies were used to produce optical cells composed by the cellulose derivative film covered on both free surfaces by a layer of the nematic liquid crystal E7 and placed between two transparent conducting substrates. The electro-optical properties of these cells were obtained.