Polymerization induced phase separation (PIPS) in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) system: A Monte-Carlo simulation approach

Abstract

The polymerization induced phase separation (PIPS) process in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) system was studied by using Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation methods. In particular, the dependence of the phase separation between liquid crystal and polymer on the parameters, such as temperature γ = ?/kT, polymerization reactivity p and curing time t _c, was examined. It was found that the pair correlation function G(a, t) decreases with the decrease of temperature when the polymerization reactivity p is fixed. Our results also revealed that at a constant temperature, the final value of G(a) first increases with the increasing of p, and finally approaches a constant value. This observation provides us an effective way of controlling the size of liquid crystal droplets as well as their distributions. It was observed that the equilibrium value of G(a) increases as the curing time increases when both temperature and p are kept constant. This is another way of controlling the size of liquid crystal droplets.     

Relaxation time of polymer ball type PDLC films

“Polymer ball” polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) samples were fabricated by the photo-polymerization induced phase separation method and their relaxation behaviour was studied. It was found that upon removal of the applied electric field, the transmittance of the “polymer ball” PDLC sample decays exponentially from T_on to T_memo with a relaxation time constant in the order of msec. It was found that the measured relaxation time constant decreases as the curing time increases and the LC concentration increases.     

Complex study of reorientational dynamics of the liquid crystal in PDLC films

Morphological, electro-optical and switching properties of polyester resin/nematic liquid crystal composite films have been studied for varying composition (10-40 wt% of LC), temperature (20-50 C), film thickness (10-75 mum) and UV curing time of the matrix (0.25-12 min). The PDLC films were formed by LC separation in a UV polymerization process of the thin layer of oligoester resin (liquid crystal mixture) between ITO coated glass plates. The electro-optical and response behaviour based on the electric field controlled light scattering of the composite films was observed. The results were interpreted in terms of effective anchoring strength at the interface of the polymer and liquid crystal depending either on the area fraction of the interface in the composite film (dependent on the size and shape of the liquid crystal droplets) or the stiffness and resistivity of the polyester resin changing in the course of the crosslinking polymerization.     

Kinetische und mechanistische untersuchungen von Übergangsmetall-komplex-reaktionen : III. Abhängigkeit des gleichgewichts der addition von tributylphosphan an pentacarbonyl(arylmethoxycarben)wolfram vom substituenten am ring

The reaction of pentacarbonyl(arylmethoxycarbene)tungsten, (CO)₅W[C(OCH₃(p-C₆H₄R)] [R = OCH₃ (a), CH₃ (b), H (c), Br (d), CF₃ (e)], with tributylphosphane at low temperatures results in a reversible addition of the phosphane to the carbene carbon atom. The addition—dissoziation equilibrium is not only dependent on the temperature but also to a strong degree on the nature of the substituent R. ΔG, ΔH and the equilibrium constant K increase in the series from R = OCH₃ to R = CF₃. With the exception of R = OCH₃ the substituents b to e form an isentropic class. For all substituents (a to e) a linear dependency from Jaffés σ-constants was observed for ΔH. Good linear correlation for the substituents b to e was also found for log K and σ as well as for log K and the CO-force constants k_cis and k_trans.     

Rotational viscosity γ1 of nematic liquid crystals as a function of temperature, pressure and density

Measurements of the rotational viscosity γ₁ and the density are presented for a mixture of 4'-methoxybenzylidenebutylaniline (MBBA) and its ethoxy homologue EBBA and a mixture of cyclohexylphenylnitriles (ZLI 2413 from Merck AG) as a function of temperature and pressure. A new set-up for the measurement of densities under pressures of up to 3kbar is described. It is shown that the pressure dependence of the kinematic rotational viscosity γ₁/ρ and the temperature dependence of γ₁ under isobaric and isochoric conditions have common features with that of the shear viscosity of isotropic liquids. Furthermore, it is found that the curves γ₁ = f(1/T) for constant p and γ₁ = g(ρ) for constant T can be shifted one onto another by an appropriate shift of the scale of the independent variable.     

Field-induced textures of polymer-dispersed chiral liquid crystal microdroplets

We have microscopically observed the textures of very large droplets of cholesteric liquid crystal in a polymer matrix under the influence of an electric field E. When E = 0, the droplets exhibit rings and often a disclination line extends from the centre to the periphery of the droplet. As E increases, the droplet undergoes a progressive transition to a uniform-appearing texture. This uniform region first occurs near the centre of the droplet, then increases in radius as the field is increased. We propose that the field-off texture corresponds to the Frank-Pryce spherulite model while the uniform field-on texture is the planar texture.     

A thermochemical investigation of guest-host interactions in labile Werner clathrates of the [Ni(4-EtPy)4(NCS)2]·G type (G = Methyl derivatives of benzene)

The stoichiometry of thermal decomposition has been studied for (I): [Ni(4-EtPy)₄(NCS)₂] as a host complex as well as for its clathrates [Ni(4-EtPy)₄(NCS)₂]·G where guest molecule G - toluene, (II): T, (III): o-xylene (o-X) and (IV): p-xylene (p-X). The loss of volatile components proceeds in three steps (−2L, −1L, −1L) for I and in four steps (−G, −2L, −1L, −1L) for II, III and IV. DSC and X-ray powder measurements indicated a phase transition in all compounds under study. However, this process is overlapped by the escape of G in II and III. The differences in enthalpy changes are associated with different guest-host interactions in the particular clathrates.     

Non-monotonic temperature dependence of the alignment of a nematic mixture on a ferroelectric substrate

Polarization optic techniques have been applied to study specific features of the anisotropic interaction between a dye-doped eutectic mixture of nematic liquid crystals p-methoxybenzylidene-p-n-butylaniline and p-ethoxybenzylidene-p-n-butylaniline and a polar surface of a ferroelectric triglycine sulphate crystal over the temperature range including the substrate Curie point T _c. It has been found that the temperature-induced structural changes in the nematic layer in the vicinity of T _c are related to the changes in the orientational part of the tensor order parameter Q_ik . The temperature dependence of the director angle θ¯, averaged over the nematic layer, has been obtained from the effective dichroism values of solute absorption. The experimental data were interpreted using the model, in which the anisotropic part of the surface energy has two terms with orthogonal easy axes.     

Phase behaviour of the thermotropic cubic mesogen 1,2-bis(4-n-decyloxybenzoyl)hydrazine under pressure

The phase transition behaviour of an optically isotropic, thermotropic cubic mesogen 1,2-bis(4-n-decyloxybenzoyl)hydrazine, BABH(10), was investigated under pressures up to 300 MPa using a high pressure differential thermal analyser, a wide angle X-ray diffractometer and a polarizing optical microscope (POM) equipped with a high pressure optical cell. The reversible change in structure and optical texture between the cubic (Cub) and smectic C (SmC) phases was associated with a change from a spot-like X-ray pattern and dark field for the Cub phase to the Debye-Sherrer ring pattern and sand-like texture for the SmC phase under both isobaric and isothermal conditions. The Cub phase was found to disappear at pressures above about 11 MPa. The phase transition sequence, low temperature crystal (Cr₃)-intermediate temperature crystal (Cr₂)-high temperature crystal (Cr₁)-Cub-SmC-isotropic liquid (I) observed at atmospheric pressure, is maintained in the low pressure region below 10 MPa. The transition sequence changes to Cr₃-Cr₂-(Cr₁)-SmC-I in the high pressure region. Since the Cub-SmC transition line determined by POM has a negative slope (dT/dP) in the T-P phase diagram, a triple point is estimated approximately at 10-11 MPa, and 143-145°C for the SmC, Cub and Cr₁ phases, giving the upper limit of pressure for the observation of the cubic phase.     

The influences of surface polarization on NLC cells

The influence of the surface polarization, P_s , on a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell is investigated analytically. Flexoelectric polarization is considered, but selective ion absorption is ignored. The differential equations are derived for tilt angle, θ, of director n and the corresponding boundary conditions based on Gibbs free energy, and their solutions discussed. Equations for the reduced threshold voltage, u_th , and the reduced saturation voltage, u_sat , are deduced and the relationships between u_th , u_sat and reduced strength of surface polarization, p, derived.     

High pressure studies of the static permittivity tensor components in the nematic phase of 6CB

The dielectric permittivity tensor components, ε_II and ε_⊥, in the nematic phase of 6CB (4-n-hexyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl) were measured in the pressure range 0.1-130 MPa and the temperature range 12-58°C. The dielectric anisotropy, Δε(p, V, T) = ε_II - ε_⊥, was analysed in isothermal, isobaric and isochoric conditions taking into account the pVT data and the well known Maier and Meier equation. On that basis the nematic order parameter S(p, V, T) was determined. This was used to calculate the parameter Γ relating the interaction potential with the volume (density). Its value Γ = 4.1 agrees very well with other estimates.     

Crystallization kinetics study on higher homologues of benzylidene aniline compounds: impact of phase variant on nucleation process

A systematic kinetic study leading to the crystallization process from the kinetophases (which occur prior to crystal phase) smectic B, crystal G and smectic F is performed on representative compounds of the homologous series p-phenylbenzylidene-p'-alkylanilines (PBnA) and p-n-alkoxybenzylidene-p'-alkylanilines (nO.m) these compounds are p-phenylbenzylidene-p'-nonylaniline (PB9A), p-phenylbenzylidene-p'-tetradecylaniline (PB14A), p-n-pentadecyloxybenzylidene p'-tetradecylaniline (15O.14) and p-n-octadecyloxybenzylidene-p'-nonylaniline (18O.9). The molecular mechanism and dimensionality in crystal growth from the kineto phases are computed from the Avrami equation, while the characteristic crystalline time (t*) at each crystallization temperature is deduced from the individual plots of log t vs. ΔH. The low magnitudes of the dimensionality parameter n infers the occurrence of diffusion-controlled transformations leading to the formation of plates or needles of finite size possessing impinged edges. The degree of variation in the value of n at each crystallization temperature also reveals the existence of an independent nucleation mechanism for any individual member of the series. The influence of the terminal alkyl chain lengths on the rate of crystallization is determined from a comparative study with the reported analogous compounds.     

Testing the uncertainty principle using (n,γ) photon beams and pulsed neutron beams

Nuclear resonance scattering of a photon beam based on the (n,γ) reaction was used for measuring the mean square zero-point linear momenta p_a² and p_c² of the atoms of a metallic Zn single crystal. A similar measurement was carried out using a pulsed neutron source. These were combined with corresponding values of x_a² and x_c² obtained using the Mössbauer effect. In both the cases the measured values of p_a² and p_c² were found to conform to the requirements of the Uncertainty principle for a real solid to within 3%.     

Thin-film polymerization and characterization of Sumitomo's Sumikasuper®-type liquid crystalline polymers

Using the thin film polymerization approach, we have studied the texture evolution when synthesizing a novel liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) system based on Sumikasuper^® LCPs. The main monomers used were p-acetoxybenzoic acid (ABA), 4,4'-biphenol (BP), isophthalic acid (IA), phthalic acid (PA) and terephthalic acid (TA). Polarizing optical microscopy (POM), FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were employed to study the thin film polymerization process and characterize the products. The generation and evolution of liquid crystal phases were monitored; the results revealed that there exists a composition range for the monomers to react and form liquid crystal materials. The critical temperature for LC formation in ABA/BP/IA system decreased with increasing ABA content. FTIR results confirmed the formation of polymers. AFM investigation suggested a similar process of morphological change to that observed using POM. An increasing surface roughness of the thin films with the progress of polymerization was also obtained from AFM analysis. A nematic LC texture of the polymer system was suggested by XRD examination. Results obtained by replacing BP with acetylated BP, and by conducting polymerization using two-monomer systems, suggest that BP units are included in polymers obtained by the thin film polymerization method.     

The effect of polymer chain length on the thermodynamics of acrylate/cyanobiphenyl mixtures

The effect of polymer molecular mass on the phase behaviour and solubility limits of polymer/liquid crystal mixtures is studied for blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and the small-molecule liquid crystal, 4'-octyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (8CB). The phase diagrams from optical microscopy show a limit to the effect of increasing polymer molecular mass. The Flory-Huggins theory (FH) for polymer solutions is used to extract the interaction parameter, χ, from the phase diagrams. The initial FH fits are performed with the assumption that χ is independent of polymer molecular mass, but result in poor correlation to the microscopy data. When χ is allowed to scale with M _w, however, the FH fits are consistent with the limiting molecular mass behaviour. This result represents, to our knowledge, the first time that this scaling behaviour has been observed in polymer/liquid crystal blends. The solubility limit, β, of 8CB in PMMA for each polymer molecular mass is also determined and, when compared with the results of previous studies, support the concept that β is independent of both polymer composition and molecular masses when the polymer molecular mass exceeds ca. 5×10⁵ g mol^-1.     

Single-crystal X-ray structural refinement of the ‘tetragonal'' C60 polymer

The single crystals of the ‘tetragonal' C₆₀ polymer were prepared by the polymerization of C₆₀ single crystals under a pressure of 2.5 GPa at 500 °C. The X-ray structural analysis resulted in the orthorhombic space group Immm; a=9.026(2) Å, b=9.083(2) Å, c=15.077(3) Å, and Z=2; R1/wR2=0.0731/0.1719 for 654 observed reflections and 74 variables. The crystal structure represents a pseudo-tetragonal packing of translationally identical adjacent two-dimensional (2D) layers formed by the polymerization of C₆₀ molecules via [2+2] cycloaddition.     

固化条件对聚合物分散液晶膜电光性能的影响

选用聚乙二醇二缩水甘油醚(EGDE)/季戊四醇缩水甘油醚(PERTGE)/1,8-二氨基-3,6-二氧杂辛烷(EDBEA)/向列相液晶(SLC1717)复合体系,在不同的固化条件下,通过热聚合诱导相分离方法制备了一系列电光性能不同的聚合物分散液晶(polymer dispersed liquid crystal,简称PDLC)膜.研究了固化温度和固化时间对制备的PDLC膜中聚合物网络的微观形貌和电光性能的影响.结果表明,随着固化温度的升高以及固化时间的缩短,PDLC膜的对比度、驱动电压和开态响应时间逐渐增大,而关态响应时间逐渐减小.在固化温度为363.2 K,固化时间为7 h时,所制备的PDLC膜具有较佳的电光性能.     

NMR conformational studies of (1,2-bis(diarylphosphino) ethane) -(diorgano sulfide) ruthenium complexes

Some (η⁵-cyclopentadienyl)(1,2-bis(diarylphosphino)ethane)(diorganosulfide)ruthenium complexes, [Ru(η⁵-C₅H₅)(Ar₂PCH₂CH₂-PAr₂)(R¹R ²S)]BF₄ (Ar = Ph, p-Tol; R¹, R² = Ph, Et) were prepared. Variable temperature NMR spectra of these complexes showed the existence of two fluxional processes; inversion at the sulfur atom and δ-λ interconversion of the chelate ring. The former process was slower, and its barriers in these complexes were calculated as ca. 7 kcal mol⁻¹. The spectral features of ethyl phenyl sulfide complexes suggested that substantiation of the new chiral center at sulfur induces a significant conformational rigidity at the chelate ring.     

Size control of phase‐separated liquid crystal droplets in a polymer matrix based on the phase diagram

When a mixture of liquid crystal (LC) and photo reactive monomer is irradiated by UV light, polymerization occurs and LC droplets form through phase separation, producing polymer dispersed LCs (PDLCs). Although size control of LC droplets and reduced amounts of LC in PDLC films are important in applications, precise size control of LC droplets at a low LC fraction has not yet been accomplished. In this study, the phase diagrams of the LC/initial monomer and the LC/polymer during polymerization were used to control LC droplet size at various LC fractions. Both the relative position of the sample in the initial phase diagram and the shift of the phase separation line during polymerization were shown to be important in determining the size of LC droplets. Our results are expected to provide a new strategy for precise size control of LC droplets especially at a low LC fraction range, which would be a great help for PDLC applications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012     

The crystal and molecular structure of (---)436-(η-C5H5)Fe(CO)(CH3CO)[Ph2PNHCH(Me)(Ph)]

The X-ray crystal structure and absolute configuration of (−)₄₃₆-(η⁵-C₅H₅)Fe(CO)(CH₃CO)[Ph₂PNHCH(Me)(Ph)] have been determined from single crystal diffraction data. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁ with two molecules in a unit cell of dimensions a = 10.676(4), b = 8.913(7), c = 13.275(9) Å, and β = 91.36°. The structure was solved by the Patterson method and refined to a final R value of 4.7% using 2299 independent data. The iron atom has distorted octahedral coordination, and the configuration at the iron is found to be (S) for the (−)₄₃₆ diastereoisomer. The Fe---Cp distances average 2.131 Å, with an Fe-(ring centroid)distance of 1.76 Å. The Fe-acetyl distance is virtually identical to that found in another iron/acetyl complex, but shows substantial variation from other compounds where the nature of the C(=O)R group is changed. Comparison to the Mo-alkyl/Mo-acetyl series is made, and the argument for back-donation in transition metal acyls is strengthened.

The orientation of the acetyl group is determined by a strong NHO intra-molecular hydrogen bond having an NO separation of only 2.86 ». The phosphine ligand has a very short Fe---P bond which could be in part caused by the role of the adjacent nitrogen in hydrogen bonding. The remaining ligand geometry is the same as that found in a recently reported ruthenium structure, although the absolute configurations at the chiral carbons are reversed, with the current compound being designated (S) at this site.