Issue 44, 2018

Polymer stabilization of cholesteric liquid crystals in the oblique helicoidal state

Abstract

Electrical control of the pitch has been reported in a variant of the cholesteric liquid crystal phase composed of chiral dopants and liquid crystal dimers with a bent conformation, such as CB7CB. For a finite range of applied electric field, the dimeric mesogens assume an oblique helicoidal structure, in which the helical axis is aligned along the electric field and the local director is tilted towards the helical axis (rather than being perpendicular to it). An electric field can directly regulate the periodicity (pitch), allowing reconfiguration of the optical response from a scattering or transparent state to a reflective state. Here, we employ po stabilization to retain the oblique helicoidal state absent an applied field. The polymer stabilized oblique helicoidal structures were investigated under various conditions and material compositions. With polymer stabilization, the magnitude of the selective reflection is found to be dependent on the strength of the applied field. Comparison of the electro-optical response of samples with and without a polymer network elucidates the relative role of boundary conditions, anchoring strength, and elastic energy on the stability of the oblique helicoidal state.

Graphical abstract: Polymer stabilization of cholesteric liquid crystals in the oblique helicoidal state

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Jun 2018
Accepted
31 Aug 2018
First published
04 Sep 2018

Soft Matter, 2018,14, 8883-8894

Author version available

Polymer stabilization of cholesteric liquid crystals in the oblique helicoidal state

M. Rumi, T. J. Bunning and T. J. White, Soft Matter, 2018, 14, 8883 DOI: 10.1039/C8SM01278D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements