Impact of silica nanoparticles dispersion on the dielectric and electro-optical properties and absorption spectra of host ferroelectric liquid crystal

The present work concerns with the investigation of the effect of dispersion of Silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) in host ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) KCFLC10S on the dielectric and electro-optical properties and ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) absorption spectra of the pristine and dispersed systems. We have found that the dispersion of SiO2 NPs in the host FLC strongly influences the various properties of dispersed systems. No evidence of aggregates and clumps in the dispersed system has been observed. Due to SiO2 NPs dispersion, a rapid decrease in dielectric permittivity e’, increase in conductivity σ with frequency, increase in spontaneous polarisation Ps and decrease in switching time with bias voltage have been observed. Based on the absorption spectra, we have also made an attempt to link the electro-optical and dielectric response with the mechanism of FLC–NPs interactions.