新型光取向液晶聚合物的制备及其性能表征

目前,液晶分子常规的定向方法是对涂有定向膜的基片进行摩擦,这种方法简单、方便,然而在摩擦过程中却难以避免产生机械划痕、污染或静电,影响了液晶分子取向的均匀性,光控取向方法是近年来发展起来的一种液晶定向新技术,即通过激光或偏振紫外光照射,引发基片上的聚合物薄膜发生光致聚合、光致异构或光致分解反应,产生表面的各向异性,进而诱导液晶分子取向。     

预取向液晶单体光聚合反应

通过表面摩擦、施加外电场(或磁场)和应力剪切等手段使液晶单体取向后进行光聚合反应是制备高度取向、高度均匀和高度透明高分子液晶膜的重要方法。它在高分子非线性光学材料、导电商分子材料和光纤涂层等领域中具有广泛的应用前景。     

液晶光定向层材料

本文综述了近10年来液晶显示用光定向层材料领域的研究现状和进展情况，主要概述了光降解型、光致异构型、光交联型以及自组装等材料，并对目前报道的液晶光定向机理进行了总结和归纳。     

4,4‘—双—（外型—二环[2,2,1]庚—2—烯—5,6—二酰亚胺）基二苯甲烷合成

４，４’－双－（外型－二环［２，２，１］庚－２－烯－５，６－二酰亚胺）基二苯甲烷合成沙耀武徐寿颐（清华大学化学系北京１０００８４）目前液晶显示器件（ＬＣＤ）已成为显示器件领域中的主流产品之一。液晶分子在玻璃基片表面的定向排列技术直接影响到液晶显示器件...     

反式环己烷羧酸衍生物的合成

低档液晶显示中所用的液晶材料,如联苯氰类、酯类等,具有高的粘度,低的清亮点及低的光化学、化学稳定性等缺点．随着液晶显示技术的发展,对高档液晶材料的要求越来越迫切．为了降低液晶材料的粘度指数,改造液晶分子的方法之一是用环己烷环代替分子中的苯环［１］．因...     

液晶金属配位聚合物的合成及性能

基于国内外最新研究文献 ,系统论述了近年来液晶金属配位聚合物的合成方法、液晶行为及应用前景。指出液晶金属配位聚合物的合成方法可归纳为直接配位法、单体配位法、交联配位法和聚合物反应法四种。液晶金属配位聚合物一般呈现热致液晶行为 ,显示稳定的向列液晶相或近晶液晶相。有些金属配位聚合物还呈现互变性近晶态或单变液晶性。液晶金属配位聚合物具有金属的特殊性质 ,是一种新型高性能磁导、电导和光导材料 ,可望应用于液晶显示材料、磁性信息储存薄膜材料、润滑剂和各向异性催化剂等。     

新型可溶性偶氮聚酰亚胺及其作为液晶光定向层应用的初步研究

以 4 ,4′ 二 (1,2 苯二酸酐 4 羧酸酯 )偶氮苯为二酐单体 ,4 十六烷氧基 4′ ,4″ 二氨基三苯甲烷为二胺单体 ,通过缩聚反应合成了可溶性偶氮聚酰亚胺 .采用红外光谱、氢核磁共振、紫外光谱和热分析等手段 ,对产物的结构、热性能及光学性能等进行了表征 .在紫外光辐照下 ,上述聚合物表现出明显的光色效应 .经线性偏振紫外光 (LPUV)辐射后的上述偶氮聚酰亚胺定向层能诱导液晶盒中液晶分子发生定向沿面排列 ,且取向均匀 .上述实验表明 ,合成的偶氮聚酰亚胺是一类潜在的液晶光定向材料 .     

各向异性光交联作用对液晶在起伏光栅表面的取向影响

以含肉桂酸基团的光敏聚酰亚胺为"墨水",通过软印刷技术制备了一种新型的可进一步光交联的表面起伏光栅,研究了各向异性光交联对光栅热稳定性和光栅诱导液晶取向的影响.研究结果表明,在经过紫外光交联后,光栅的热稳定性有较大提高,在经过高于未交联聚酰亚胺的玻璃化转变温度31℃处理2 h后,光栅形貌未发生变化.曝光前后光栅都能诱导液晶分子在表面均一沿面排列.当线性偏振紫外光的偏振方向与光栅沟槽垂直时,光交联能促进光栅对液晶的定向能力,反之则降低的定向能力.通过改变辐照光的偏振方向,调节光栅深度,能控制液晶分子在光栅上的取向方向.将这种软印刷得到的光栅用作液晶定向层,不仅可具有更好的热稳定性和定向能力,还可以调节液晶分子在光栅上的取向方向,实现多畴取向.     

电场对聚肽液晶相行为的影响

聚合物液晶的相转变不仅可以通过溶液温度或聚合物的浓度的改变来实现,也可以通过施加外电场、磁场等取向场来达到．在二氧六环、氯仿、间甲酚等支持聚肽a一螺旋构象的溶剂中,当PBLG(聚L-谷氨酸γ-苯甲酯)达到一定的浓度会形成胆甾型溶致液晶．对这种液晶施加强度足够     

基于液晶聚合物的光致形变复合材料

可变形液晶聚合物是近年来的研究热点,它们在人造肌肉、软机器人和智能光学设备等智能软系统的开发中表现出巨大潜力。然而,传统热响应液晶聚合物的应用通常受到聚合物基体的低热导率以及对外部加热装置高度依赖性的限制。相比之下,光控方法具有许多优点,包括具有非接触式、远程原位以及精确操纵的能力,这有助于开发各种不受限制且可远程操作的智能软器件。最近,通过引入有机或无机光响应组分作为功能添加剂来开发光控可变形液晶聚合物有许多重要进展。其中,通过功能模块、液晶相和聚合物基质之间的相互作用,所引入组分的多种功能可以与液晶聚合物的定向变形行为相结合。本文将重点介绍掺入光敏有机染料或无机纳米组分的可光操作液晶聚合物复合体系的设计策略、制造方法和工作原理,并简要总结它们可能的应用和未来的发展。     

软光刻技术制备液晶显示用定向层

以偶氮聚合物光致表面起伏光栅为模板,制备聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)弹性印章,再以可溶性聚酰亚胺(PI)为“墨水”,在石英玻璃上压印出具有规则起伏结构的PI薄膜.由此制备的PI薄膜显示出很好的使液晶分子定向排列的效果.此方法成本低、效率高,是一种实用的液晶定向层薄膜制备方法.     

Polyimide liquid crystal alignment layers prepared by soft-lithography

Elastomeric replicas of surface relief structures were prepared by molding poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) precursors against photo-inscribed surface-relief-gratings on azo polymer films. The PI solutions were micro-contact printed with the elastomeric PDMS replica on quartz slides. Good surface-relief-grating structures were formed on the quartz slides. The quartz slides covered with surface-relief-grating polymide (PI) films were then assembled into liquid crystal (LC) cells. The transmittance passing through the cell between crossed polarizers changed periodically with a regular 90° separation of the rotational angle. The pretilt angle of the cell was found to be 2.8°. Results showed that the PI films with surface-relief-grating structures by this micro-contact printing process have good liquid crystal alignment ability. This preparation method of alignment layers can be considered a potentially useful technique in the LC display (LCD) industry in the future. Translated from Acta Polymerica Sinica, 2006, (7): 908–911 [译自: 高分子学报]     

Liquid crystal alignment behaviours on poly(methyl methacrylate) having polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane groups

A series of poly(methyl methacrylate) derivatives containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) groups (MCP#) were synthesised via free radical polymerisation (FRP) using methacryl isobutyl POSS (MA-POSS) and methyl methacrylate as monomers to investigate liquid crystal (LC) alignment property of these polymer films. The LC cells made from the films of the polymers having 100 mol% of MA-POSS units (MCP100) showed vertical LC alignment having a pretilt angle of about 90°. The vertical LC alignment behaviour on the MCP100 film was ascribed to the very hydrophobic MCP100 surface having the surface energy value smaller than about 23 mJ/m² generated by the nonpolar bulky POSS group. Good electro-optical characteristics, such as voltage holding ratio (VHR) and residual DC voltage (R-DC), were observed for the LC cells fabricated using MCP100 as a LC alignment layer.     

Hyperbranched polyimide application in liquid crystal alignment layers

Several hyperbranched polyimides (HBPIs) were applied in liquid crystal (LC) alignment layers and exhibited outstanding performance for LC alignment. The maximum pretilt angle was above 8°, and the minimum pretilt angle was 4.2°. The results of atomic force microscope measurement disclosed that a lot of grooves were aligned parallel to the rubbing direction and found that the grooves were not main factor for LC alignment. The LC alignment and pretilt angles are unambiguously associated with the intrinsic HBPI chemical structures. The results of thermal gravimetric analysis and ultraviolet–visible spectra showed that the HBPIs had good thermal stability and excellent transmittance. T₅ and T₁₀ were higher than 360°C and 400°C, respectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liquid crystal alignment properties of poly(styrenesulphonate)/alkyltrimethylammonium complexes

We synthesised a series of poly(4-styrenesulphonate)/alkyltrimethylammonium (PSS-#Cx, # = 12, 14 and 16; x?=?80, 60, 40 and 20) complexes, where # is the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl groups in alkyltrimethylammonium bromide, and x is the molar content (%) of alkyltrimethylammonium moiety, using polymer analogous reactions to investigate their liquid crystal (LC) alignment properties. In general, the LC cell fabricated using the polymer film having a longer alkyl side group and a higher molar content of alkyl side group showed homeotropic LC alignment behaviour with a pretilt angle of about 90°. The homeotropic LC alignment behaviour was well correlated with the surface energy of the polymer films. Homeotropic LC alignment was observed when the surface energy values of the polymer were smaller than about 44.87 mJ/m².     

Liquid crystal alignment properties of 2-naphthoxymethyl-substituted polystyrenes

The liquid crystal (LC) alignment properties of LC cells fabricated with films of 2-naphthoxymethyl-substituted polystyrenes with different contents of naphthoxymethyl side groups were investigated. The polymer films exhibited good optical transparency in the visible light region (400–700 nm). The LC cells made from the unrubbed films of polymers having more than 57 mol%?of 2-naphthoxymethyl containing monomeric units showed homeotropic LC alignment with a high pretilt angle of about 90^o. Good electro-optical characteristics, such as the threshold voltage, response time, voltage holding ratio and residual DC voltage were observed for the LC cells fabricated with the polymer having 100 mol%?of 2-naphthoxymethyl containing monomeric units as an LC alignment layer.     

Homogeneously aligned liquid crystal molecules on unidirectional buckle pattern of polyurethane films

We present the fabrication of an anisotropic structure on a polyurethane (PU) film for aligning liquid crystal (LC) molecules with ion beam (IB) irradiation at an incident angle. The obtained anisotropic structure assembles the LC cells in a layer that aligns LC molecules uniformly. Polarised optical microscopy images of an LC cell fabricated with IB-irradiated PU were captured to confirm the LC alignment state and compared with those fabricated with non-treated PU. To analyse the effects of the IB irradiation, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the chemical and morphological modifications, respectively. IB irradiation modifies the chemical structure of PU, which indicates that a new skin layer is formed on the PU films. This skin layer generates an in-plane compressive strain, thereby creating buckles on the PU films. Simultaneously, the physical collision of the reactive Ar⁺ ions during IB irradiation induces a directional strain on the surface, thereby forming a unidirectional structure of buckles along the direction of IB irradiation. The PU film annealed at 200°C showed the high average transmittance of 88.9%, which is appropriate as an alignment layer.     

Free residual DC voltage for nematic liquid crystals on solution-derived lanthanum tin oxide film

We present the liquid crystal (LC) alignment properties of solution-derived lanthanum tin oxide (LaSnO) films cured at various temperatures and exposed to ion-beam (IB) irradiation. Using a solution process, LaSnO films were deposited on the indium-tin-oxide glass substrates and IB irradiation was used as an alignment method. Homogeneous and uniform LC alignment was achieved and observed by cross-polarised optical microscopy. Pre-tilt angle results with low standard deviation supported the notion of uniform LC alignment. The LaSnO film cured at 300°C showed nearly zero capacitance–voltage hysteresis. The change of the surface morphology of the LaSnO film due to IB irradiation was observed by atomic force microscopy. The effects of IB irradiation on the LC alignment layer were further demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The strong IB irradiation broke the metal–oxide bonds present, which in turn induced an increased number of oxygen vacancies on the whole surface. Uniform LC alignment was attributed to surface reformation and van der Waals forces.     

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal composites for bio-applications: thermotropic,surface and optical properties

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) systems based on polysulfone as carrying matrix and 4-cyano-4?-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal (LC) were obtained as thin transparent films. The PDLC films were prepared by solvent- and thermally induced phase separation methods, with various compositions in the two components. Information on the phase separation was obtained by polarised light optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The PDLC composites show well-defined droplets of submicrometric size, around 650 nm for a medium content of LC and around 250 nm for a low one. The droplets show a radial configuration and a homeotropic alignment of the LC molecules within. By contact angle measurement and surface free energy calculations, it was established that self-assembling of aliphatic units of the two composite components, at droplet interface, is the driving force of the homeotropic alignment. Moreover, these data indicated the potential biocompatibility of the studied composites. The photophysical behaviour shows a better light emission of the PDLCs containing bigger droplets.     

Controllable alignment of liquid crystals based on the surface relief gratings from a photocross-linkable organic monomer

The orientational control of liquid crystal (LC) molecules is essential for high-quality liquid crystal displays, and the photo-induced surface relief grating (SRG) is a facile and effective non-contact process. Here, SRGs with different period and depth were prepared with a photocross-linkable organic monomer 4-propyldiphenylacetylenecarboxylic acid cinnamyl ester (PDACE), and the LC alignment induced by SRG was studied. It is found that both the surface topography and the chemical nature of the surface are responsible for the LC alignment, which is strongly dependent on the groove geometry of the gratings. Furthermore, the patterned LC cell was fabricated with the patterned SRG surface. These results demonstrate that the planar, perpendicular and patterned orientations of LC can be easily photo-controllably obtained with PDACE, which have important applications in optical devices.