Response times of polymer dispersed liquid crystals with linear or graft copolymer matrix prepared by controlled living polymerization

Response time, an important property of polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs), was reported to be affected by the structures of the polymer matrix. In this study, reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) were used to synthesize a well-defined copolymer matrix. A kind of graft macroinitiator with both controlled main chain and branched chains was employed to prepare PDLCs with a graft copolymer matrix; meanwhile a linear macroinitiator was also synthesized to prepare PDLCs with a linear copolymer matrix. The effect of different matrix structures on response times was investigated. It was found that the introduction of branched chains made a big difference to response times, and a possible mechanism was proposed.