Programmable electro-optical performances in a dual-frequency liquid crystals / polymer composite system

Abstract Liquid crystals (LCs)/polymer composites are promising candidates for the next-generation of large-area processible and flexible electro-optical (E-O) materials due to their combination of the fast-responsive characteristics of LCs and the excellent physical properties of polymer. However, the current LCs/polymer system, represented by the polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC), are suffering from limitations of their normally opaque optical states, because the porous polymer matrix in PDLCs are lack of orientation control over LCs. Herein we promote a new category of LCs/polymer composite film from a polymeric system containing dual-frequency liquid crystals, liquid-crystalline polymerizable monomers and isotropic polymerizable monomers. By creating a polymer-stabilized-liquid-crystal like polymer microstructure within a PDLC like porous matrix, the promoted composite film features programmable electro-optical performances, excellent flexibility and enhanced robustness. Most importantly, the normal optical states can be regulated from opaque to transparent through microstructure control, showing great potential E-O applications in practical uses.