Reversible switching of liquid crystal micro-particles in a nematic liquid crystal
Reversible switching of liquid crystal micro-particles in a nematic liquid crystal
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DOI：
10.1039/c5sm01956g
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发表时间：
2016-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Ozaki, Masanori
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Imamura, Koki;Yoshida, Hiroyuki;Ozaki, Masanori
液晶微粒子是一种具有光学和介电各向异性的功能材料，这种各向异性源于粒子内棒状分子的排列。虽然它们可以通过电场进行切换，但分散在各向同性宿主中的颗粒通常不能返回到其原始状态，因为没有恢复力作用于颗粒。在这里，我们描述了可逆切换的液晶微粒分散在一个可调液晶主机。我们制备了具有单向分子排列的正方形微粒子，并通过施加面内电场研究了它们的静态和动态电光特性。我们构建的理论模型很好地描述了微观粒子的行为，使得这项研究对开发具有工程特性的液晶-液晶粒子复合材料具有潜在的意义。
Liquid crystal micro-particles are functional materials possessing optical and dielectric anisotropies originating from the arrangement of rod-like molecules within the particles. Although they can be switched by an electric field, particles dispersed in isotropic hosts usually cannot return to their original state, because there is no restoration force acting on the particles. Here, we describe reversible switching of liquid crystal micro-particles by dispersing them in a nematic liquid crystal host. We fabricate square micro-particles with unidirectional molecular alignment and investigate their static and dynamic electro-optic properties by applying an in-plane electric field. The behavior of the micro-particles is well-described by the theoretical model we construct, making this study potentially useful for the development of liquid crystal-liquid crystal particle composites with engineered properties.