The electro-optical response of nematic emulsions

Switchable nematic emulsions are micron-sized droplets of nematic liquid crystal, floating in isotropic fluid matrices. Such droplets can be switched from an opaque (off) to a transparent (on) state by application of very low electric fields. It is known that the electro-optical properties of liquid crystal dispersions are affected by several parameters, including the liquid crystal loading. The electro-optical response of nematic emulsions has been investigated as a function of liquid crystal weight percentage. Almost transparent films with a reduced contrast ratio are obtained with lower liquid crystal contents. A macroscopic phase separation is observed when liquid crystal content exceeds 45 wt %. On the contrary, large contrast ratios and very low switching fields can be obtained if liquid crystal ranges from 25 to 35 wt %. Consequently, nematic emulsions prepared in this liquid crystal range can be used as promising systems for electro-optical applications. In addition to technological developments, these results can help computational and basic studies of phase separation in novel multiphase liquid crystalline materials.     

液晶二聚体

液晶二聚体作为半柔性主链型液晶聚合物的简化模型, 通过对其液晶性质的研究, 有助于理解更复杂聚合物体系的液晶行为. 另外, 液晶二聚体作为一类特殊的液晶也有其自身的相结构和相行为. 以分子结构与液晶态的相互关系为主线, 系统介绍了目前文献报道的对称及非对称棒状液晶二聚体(线形、H形、U形、T形)、盘状液晶二聚体(对称的盘-盘状液晶二聚体和非对称的盘-棒状液晶二聚体)和香蕉形液晶二聚体(对称的香蕉-香蕉形液晶二聚体和非对称的香蕉-棒状液晶二聚体)等各种不同类型的液晶二聚体的研究进展, 以期为新型液晶二聚体的分子设计提供一些借鉴.     

卵磷脂类液晶乳液的性能

以卵磷脂为主乳化剂制备了一款液晶乳液。 该乳液在皮肤上具有良好的稳定性能,在皮肤表层停留6 h仍能保持完整的液晶结构,克服了一般液晶乳液中液晶织构无法在皮肤上长时间停留的问题。 液晶结构在皮肤温度范围内具有较高的稳定性,可为液晶乳液其他性能的发挥提供条件。 基于此,我们采用体外称重法研究了液晶乳液的锁水性,发现液晶乳液锁水性能明显优于传统乳液,实验7 h后仍能保持原有水分总质量的50%;体外透析实验证实,液晶乳液表现出显著的缓释性能且能释放完全,7 h后目标分子(水杨酸钠)释放率可达96%;耐温性能研究表明,液晶乳液耐高温性能及低温冻融性能优良,且温度对乳液中层状液晶的影响是可恢复的;采用离心法、高低温循环和高低温长时间(3个月)放置的方法探究了乳液储运稳定性,结果表明,液晶乳液产品储运稳定性极佳,便于实际的应用和储运。 该研究不仅可为开发多效的高端化妆品提供必要信息和参考数据,而且有望拓展卵磷脂类液晶乳化剂体系的应用范畴。     

Time-dependent electrical properties of liquid crystal cells: unravelling the origin of ion generation

An understanding of possible sources of ion generation in liquid crystal materials is of utmost importance to ensure uncompromised performance of modern liquid crystal devices. In this paper, time-dependent electrical properties of filled liquid crystal cells are used to reveal important information about often overlooked source of ion generation in liquid crystals. This source of ions originates from the ionic contamination of substrates of the liquid crystal cell. Ionic contaminants can be inherently present in the alignment layers or can be induced by external factors such as mechanical rubbing or irradiation with light. The model of this ion generation process is presented and tested using existing experimental data.     

可溶性聚酰亚胺液晶取向膜的制备与性能

液晶取向膜是液晶显示器中的关键材料,为了制得性能优良的液晶取向膜,我们通过铃木偶联反应制备了3种含有不同末端基团的3,5-二氨基联苯,将制得的3种二胺单体分别与环丁烷四甲酸二酐聚合得到3种新型的聚酰亚胺。 利用核磁氢谱对单体和聚合物的结构进行了表征,测试了聚合物的溶解性、热稳定性以及用作液晶取向膜的性能。 结果表明,所得的聚酰亚胺具有良好的溶解性和热稳定性,经过机械摩擦后,末端带有甲氧基的聚酰亚胺能使液晶分子平行于摩擦方向取向,末端带有苯氧羰基和联苯氧羰基的聚酰亚胺能使液晶分子垂直于摩擦方向取向。 此类可溶性的聚酰亚胺液晶取向膜将简化制备工艺并在柔性显示器件中具有较大的应用价值。     

Polymer-Metal Nanoparticle Complexes for Improving the Performance of Liquid Crystal Displays

Summary: Here we applied metal nanoparticles as a dopant of liquid crystals. Since liquid crystal molecules are self-assembled, it is not so easy to disperse metal nanoparticles in liquid crystal media. We first prepared metal nanoparticles protected by liquid crystal molecules by reduction of metal ions in the presence of liquid crystal molecules. This liquid crystal molecule-protected metal nanoparticles can be easily dispersed in liquid crystal media to fabricate liquid crystal sol containing metal nanoparticles. A simple liquid crystal molecule, 4′-pentylbiphenyl-4-carbonitrile (abbreviated as 5CB) was used in the present experiments at first. 5CB sol containing metal nanoparticles could construct novel twisted nematic liquid crystal devices (TN-LCDs), which revealed the electrooptic properties depending on the kind of metal of nanoparticles. During the experiments we discovered that 5CB-protected metal nanoparticles could move in liquid crystal media by applying the voltage. This phenomenon is inconvenient for liquid crystal displays, especially those driven by a matrix of thin-film transistors (TFTs). In order to avoid this phenomenon, we prepared polymer-protected metal nanoparticles and applied them to liquid crystal devices, which provided good performance as the devices, i.e., low driving voltage, rapid response at low temperature, and so on.     

Detailing smectic SSFLC director profiles by half-leaky guided mode technique and genetic algorithm

The genetic algorithm (GA), written to allow automatic analysis of optical reflectivity data obtained from liquid crystal cells using the half-leaky guided mode technique, has been developed to the point where liquid crystal cells can be analysed successfully giving greater detail of optical parameters and director profile than yielded by any other technique. The technique models the liquid crystal layer as a set of discrete, independent sub-layers which can map out the variation of the director through the thickness of the cell. Given sufficient high quality data, it is now possible automatically and accurately to fit the parameters of a complete liquid crystal cell. Using this highly adapted GA, half-leaky guided mode optical reflectivity data from the nematic, smectic A and smectic C* phases of SCE13 in a surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal have been fitted to reveal director profiles and optical parameters of the cell in each phase.     

SDS/苯甲醇/H2O体系的相行为与结构

SDS／苯甲醇／H2O体系能生成胶束、微乳液、层状液晶、六角状液晶等分子有序组合作，它们之间转换关系可以从凝聚能理论得到解释．来甲酸在O／W微乳液中的分配系数K＝168，表明绝大多数苯甲醇被增溶于SDS胶束相内．随重量比本甲醇／SDS增加，层状液晶中的do值几乎不变，溶剂渗透率略有增加，六角状液晶中圆柱缔合体的半径r值几乎不变，溶剂渗透率增加．     

Monosubstituted thermotropic ferrocenomesogens: an overview 1976–1999

Research in the late 1940s in academic institutions, most notably the University of Hull in the UK, led to the development of liquid crystal display technology in the 1970s, which has subsequently had a large impact throughout the world. The liquid crystal technology is based on simple organic molecules. Since the late 1980s, some liquid crystal scientists have turned their attention to investigating the effect of introducing a metal atom into the systems. This review focuses on the major developments in the field of ferrocenyl‐containing liquid crystals in which the organometallic group is situated in a terminal position with respect to the core of the molecule. Metallomesogens with terminal metal atoms are not very common, since it can be deduced from the theory of organic liquid crystals that bulky terminal groups would not be conducive to the stabilization of liquid crystal phases. Nevertheless, a terminal ferrocenyl group can stabilize a nematic liquid crystal phase and examples of this will be discussed in this review. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

The electro-optical properties of 'charged' PDLCs

The application of high intensity electric fields to polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films can induce changes in their electro-optical properties and morphology. In particular, a quasilinear electro-optical response to an external electric field can be achieved if an internal built-in d.c. field is induced. In this work, we show how the liquid crystal/polymer weight ratio influences the electro-optical response of 'charged' PDLCs, i.e. of PDLC films after the application of a high intensity electric field. We observed that a quasilinear electro-optical response can be achieved in a well determined range of composition. Larger liquid crystal concentrations are unable to maintain the built-in field, while PDLCs with lower liquid crystal loadings do not allow the onset of a built-in d.c. field.     

侧链型丙烯酸酯共聚物相变的正电子湮没谱研究

利用正电子湮没技术对侧链型热致高分子液晶丙烯酸酯共聚物进行了变温相变研究．除实验标识出样品的相变温度点外，根据试样中自由体积随温度的变化关系，对高分子液晶材料内部立链、侧链以及介晶基元的相变行为特点进行了探讨，并就与小分子液晶变化特点的一些不同做了解释．     

The optical response of liquid crystal cells to a low frequency driving voltage

This study investigates the optical response of liquid crystal cells to a low frequency square wave voltage of 0.1 Hz. It is found that there are three physical phenomena that dominate the overall properties of the device. The first is the discharging effect whereby the effective voltage over the liquid crystal layer decreases as a function of time; this occurs due to mobile ions being present within the liquid crystal material. The second is the charging-up of the cell where the effective voltage increases with time; this is attributed to charge separation taking place within the polyimide layer upon application of the d.c. voltage component. The third effect is cell asymmetry whereby the effective voltage depends upon the polarity of the externally applied field; this is the result of a locked-in d.c. holding voltage being present within the cell layers. These three effects are analysed in some detail with the view of developing a liquid crystal cell capable of being driven with a low frequency square wave voltage. A model of a liquid crystal cell in which the liquid crystal material can dissolve impurity ions from the alignment layers and in which the ions can then become re-adsorbed into the polyimide layer is deduced.     

Tunable command layers for liquid crystal alignment

A simple method for the construction of a stable, tunable, self-assembled command layer for liquid crystal display purposes is described. A pyridine-functionalized oligosiloxane spontaneously forms an anisotropic, grooved surface on indium-tin-oxide, enabling it to align liquid crystalline molecules. The pyridine functions act as seeds for the epitaxial growth of stacks of highly ordered zinc phthalocyanines, the height of which can be controlled. These stacks increase the interaction between the surface and the liquid crystalline matrix by amplifying the surface ordering into the liquid crystal bulk. By varying the height of the stacks, direct control over the properties of the liquid crystal domains is achieved. These properties can be further tuned by adding to the liquid crystal, micro- and nanomolar concentrations of nitrogen-containing compounds, which are capable of interacting with and dissolving the stacks. The procedures we describe offer possibilities to use such tunable systems in LCD-based sensor devices as well as in solar-cell applications.     

基于胆甾相液晶的可调制光子晶体

将胆甾相液晶填充进胶体晶体内部空隙, 通过胆甾相液晶与胶体晶体的耦合, 构建了一种新型可调制液晶光子晶体. 填充于胶体晶体内部的胆甾相液晶织构呈现典型的手性近晶相(S)特征. 由于胆甾相液晶具有特定的选择性反射, 当胶体晶体的带隙处于胆甾相液晶的反射波长范围之内, 则随着温度的改变, 胶体晶体的带隙与胆甾相液晶的带隙同时发生蓝移. 在一定温度条件下, 胆甾相液晶的带隙将与胶体晶体的带隙发生耦合, 实现了光子晶体带隙在单峰与双峰之间的可逆切换.     

A new anisotropic soft-core model for the simulation of liquid crystal mesophases

A new anisotropic soft-core model is presented, which is suitable for the rapid simulation of liquid crystal mesophases. The potential is based on a soft spherocylinder, which can be easily tuned to favor different liquid crystal mesophases. The soft-core nature of the potential makes it suitable for long-time step molecular dynamics or dissipative particle dynamics simulations, particularly as a reference model for mesogens or as an anisotropic solvent for use in combination with atomistic models. Results are presented for two variants of the new potential, which show different mesophase behaviors. Variants of the potential can also be linked together to produce more complicated molecular structures. Here, as an example, results are provided for a model multipedal liquid crystal, which has eight liquid crystalline groups linked to a central core via semiflexible chains. Here, despite the complexity of molecular structure, the model succeeds in showing the spontaneous formation of a liquid crystal phase. The results also demonstrate that there is a very strong coupling between the internal structure of the multipedal mesogen and the molecular order of the phase, with the mesogen spontaneously undergoing major structural rearrangement at the transition to the liquid crystal phase.     

"液晶"调控的磷酸钙盐矿化材料的研究

双亲分子在适当的条件下能形成LB膜或自组装成各种形状、结构的聚积体,可以作为生物模拟材料的“模板”,它能严格精巧的参与调控模拟材料的尺子、形貌以及晶体的取向[1-5,7]。如具有纳米微结构磷酸锌分子筛、二氧化硅沸石和被四氧化三铁包被的磁性微管等等。Com inic walsh应用     

The electro‐optical properties of ‘charged’ PDLCs

The application of high intensity electric fields to polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films can induce changes in their electro‐optical properties and morphology. In particular, a quasilinear electro‐optical response to an external electric field can be achieved if an internal built‐in d.c. field is induced. In this work, we show how the liquid crystal/polymer weight ratio influences the electro‐optical response of ‘charged’ PDLCs, i.e. of PDLC films after the application of a high intensity electric field. We observed that a quasilinear electro‐optical response can be achieved in a well determined range of composition. Larger liquid crystal concentrations are unable to maintain the built‐in field, while PDLCs with lower liquid crystal loadings do not allow the onset of a built‐in d.c. field.     

Temperature calibration of an electrical compensation DSC on cooling using thermally stable high purity liquid crystals

Temperature calibration of DSCs is usually carried out on heating. In order to accurately control the temperature during cooling experiments, the calibration has to be carried out on cooling. Therefore, three high-purity, thermally stable liquid crystals were used to perform a temperature calibration of an electrcial compensation DSC on cooling. All three liquid crystals have several liquid crystalline phases, and they all were purified to a 99.9% lovel. Temoperatures of the isotropic to nematic or cholesteric and the mesophase to mesophase transitions were used. It was verified that these liquid crystals have sufficient thermal stability for carrying out the calibration on cooling. The dependence of the real temperature on the indicated temperature has been established for all the combinations of the heating and cooling rates of practical interest. It is also shown that the vant's Hoff equation can only be applied to the crystal to a liquid crystal transition, but not to the liquid crystal to liquid crystal or liquid crystal to isotropic transitions.     

Conjugated polymer liquid crystal solutions: control of conformation and alignment

Stable solutions of conjugated poly(phenylene vinylene)s and poly(phenylene ethynylene)s in nematic liquid crystals are reported. The polymers all contain triptycene units fused into their backbones to obtain the high solubility needed to maintain solubility in complex liquid crystalline media. The polymer backbones align with the director of the nematic liquid crystal, and by applying electric fields the polymers can be reoriented. The polymers all displayed lower band gaps in the liquid crystal solvents relative to those obtained in standard solvents such as methylene chloride. Hence, the liquid crystal solution induces a chain-extended highly conjugated structure in the polymers, which is generally associated with optimization of the polymer properties.