Abstract
This study demonstrated that the electro-optical properties and morphology of reverse mode liquid crystal (LC) gel films are strongly influenced by the quenching temperature (TQ) during the manufacturing processes. Composite films were self-assembled using LC and gelator molecules by using different TQ values (70, 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 °C) and a cold brine (−15 °C). As TQ increased, the morphology of the gel in the polarised light microscope images are changed from neatly arranged fibre-like patterns to random disordered networks. Furthermore, the threshold and driving voltages of the films decreased. For further investigating the gelation processes, Steady cooling rates of 3, 10 and 30 °C min−1 were adopted during the manufacturing process of the LC films. The corresponding morphologies of the films were carefully inspected and compared with those of the quenched films.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have