胆甾型液晶的合成及显色示温液晶组成

合成并表征了两种对正烷氧基苯甲酸胆甾醇酯液晶 ,并用于显色示温混合液晶的配制。通过胆甾型液晶的选择及不同含量的调配 ,获得变色温度范围在 1 0～ 40°C、色泽鲜艳、温度感应灵敏、变色可逆的胆甾型混合液晶组成。讨论了混合液晶组成对显色示温的影响     

Preparation of composites of polymer liquid crystal/cholesteric liquid crystal and their photochemical switching and memory properties by photoisomerization of a chiral azobenzene molecule

A chiral azobenzene compound was synthesized, and mixing the chiral azobenzene compound in a host nematic liquid crystal (LC) induced a cholesteric phase. The twisting power of the trans‐form of the chiral azobenzene compound was larger than that of its cis‐form produced by ultraviolet irradiation. A low molecular weight compensated nematic LC was then prepared by mixing of the chiral azobenzene and a nonphotochromic chiral compound, thus giving mutual opposite helical sense in the host LC. Reversible optical switching between transparent and opaque was achieved by ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. However, the photochemically switched opaque state was not stable even in the dark. Stability of the opaque state was found to be improved by adding polymer LC to the low molecular weight compensated nematic LC. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 2577–2580, 2004     

光聚合对乙基氰乙基纤维素/丙烯酸胆甾相结构的影响

乙基氰乙基纤维素 [(E -CE)C]能够很好地溶解在丙烯酸 (AA)中并形成胆甾型液晶溶液。在 (E -CE)C/AA溶液中加入适当的光引发剂 ,采用紫外光引发聚合抑制聚合过程中相分离的发生 ,可以制得保持胆甾相结构的复合物。聚合反应会对胆甾相的结构产生一定的影响。文章研究了溶液浓度、聚合温度和 (E -CE)C分子量等因素对聚合以后胆甾相选择反射光波长及结构的影响。     

光调谐的胆甾相液晶应用的发展

胆甾相液晶具有自发的螺旋排列,是一个有趣又引人入胜的手性超分子各向异性体系。近几年胆甾相液晶体系,特别是光调谐的胆甾相液晶在新领域的应用出现令人欣喜的研究结果。本文综述了近几年光调谐的胆甾相液晶在滤波、液晶光栅以及液晶激光中的研究成果。具有光调谐特性胆甾相液晶在特殊需求的光学器件中的应用将是胆甾相液晶研究的一个很有潜力的研究方向。     

Review of operating principle and performance of polarizer‐free reflective liquid‐crystal displays

Abstract— In this paper the operational principle and performance of guest‐host, liquid‐crystal/polymer‐composite scattering, and cholesteric liquid‐crystal reflective displays are reviewed. These displays do not use polarizers and have the advantage of providing high reflectance and compatibility with flexible plastic substrates.     

Cholesteric Liquid Crystals for Color Information Technology

Fixation of the molecular ordering of cholesteric liquid crystals is essential for use of these materials in color information technology. Methods to achieve this as well as thermal and photochemical control of the cholesteric pitch of the liquid crystals are addressed and applications in rewritable color recording are highlighted. The Figure shows a sample recorded using a laser.     

Asymmetric Pairing of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Droplets for Programmable Photonic Cross-Communication

The photonic cross-communication between photonic droplets has provided complex color patterns through multiple reflections, potentially serving as novel optical codes. However, the cross-communication is mostly restricted to symmetric pairs of identical droplets. Here, a design rule is reported for the asymmetric pairing of two distinct droplets to provide bright color patterns through strong cross-communication and enrich a variety of optical codes. Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) droplets with different stopband positions and sizes are paired. The brightness of corresponding color patterns is maximized when the pairs are selected to effectively guide light along the double reflection path by stopbands of two droplets. The experimental results are in good agreement with a geometric model where the blueshift of stopbands is better described by the angles of refraction rather than reflection. The model predicts the effectiveness of pairing quantitatively, which serves as a design rule for programming the asymmetric photonic cross-communication. Moreover, three distinct droplets can be paired in triangular arrays, where all three cross-communication paths yield bright color patterns when three droplets are selected to simultaneously satisfy the rule. It is believed that asymmetric pairing of distinct CLC droplets opens new opportunities for programmable optical encoding in security and anti-counterfeiting applications.     

Dual Light and Temperature Responsive Micrometer‐Sized Structural Color Actuators

Externally induced color‐ and shape‐changes in micrometer‐sized objects are of great interest in novel application fields such as optofluidics and microrobotics. In this work, light and temperature responsive micrometer‐sized structural color actuators based on cholesteric liquid‐crystalline (CLC) polymer particles are presented. The particles are synthesized by suspension polymerization using a reactive CLC monomer mixture having a light responsive azobenzene dye. The particles exhibit anisotropic spot‐like and arc‐like reflective colored domains ranging from red to blue. Electron microscopy reveals a multidirectional asymmetric arrangement of the cholesteric layers in the particles and numerical simulations elucidate the anisotropic optical properties. Upon light exposure, the particles show reversible asymmetric shape deformations combined with structural color changes. When the temperature is increased above the liquid crystal‐isotropic phase transition temperature of the particles, the deformation is followed by a reduction or disappearance of the reflection. Such dual light and temperature responsive structural color actuators are interesting for a variety of micrometer‐sized devices.     

Digitalizing Self‐Assembled Chiral Superstructures for Optical Vortex Processing

Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) chiral superstructures exhibit unique features; that is, polychromatic and spin‐determined phase modulation. Here, a concept for digitalized chiral superstructures is proposed, which further enables the arbitrary manipulation of reflective geometric phase and may significantly upgrade existing optical apparatus. By encoding a specifically designed binary pattern, an innovative CLC optical vortex (OV) processor is demonstrated. Up to 25 different OVs are extracted with equal efficiency over a wavelength range of 116 nm. The multiplexed OVs can be detected simultaneously without mode crosstalk or distortion, permitting a polychromatic, large‐capacity, and in situ method for parallel OV processing. Such complex but easily fabricated self‐assembled chiral superstructures exhibit versatile functionalities, and provide a satisfactory platform for OV manipulation and other cutting‐edge territories. This work is a vital step towards extending the fundamental understanding and fantastic applications of ordered soft matter.