Polyimide-free homogeneous photoalignment induced by polymerisable liquid crystal containing cinnamate moiety |
| |
Authors: | Rui He Pushan Wen Shin-Woong Kang Seung Hee Lee |
| |
Institution: | 1. Graduate School of Flexible and Printable Electronics, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea;2. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Zunyi Normal College, Zunyi, China;3. Department of BIN convergence Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea;4. Department of Polymer-Nano Science and Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea |
| |
Abstract: | We designed and synthesised a reactive mesogen (CRM) containing cinnamate moiety in the core and two acrylate groups at both ends. The structure was characterised by 1H NMR and FT-IR, and its liquid crystalline property was investigated by DSC and POM. The compound showed a nematic phase between 175.2 – 97.5 oC, followed by a smectic C phase between 97.5 and 57.9 oC during the cooling cycle. We proposed a fabrication method to achieve uniaxial homogeneous alignment of liquid crystals by irradiating the CRM-doped LC mixture in a sandwich cell of in-plane switching mode (CRM-IPS) with linearly polarised ultraviolet light. The results indicated that the CRM-IPS cell showed excellent initial dark state with a good alignment state, electro-optical performance and durability. This confirmed that the photo-induced alignment of LCs by CRM possesses outstanding alignment capability compared to the conventional rubbed polyimide alignment layer. We expect that this fabrication method is a promising candidate for cost-effective, green-manufacturing, and high-quality alignment method for the manufacturing of high-resolution liquid crystal displays (LCDs). |
| |
Keywords: | Reactive mesogen photoalignment homogeneous alignment in-plane switching |
|
|