Reduced driving electric field of ionic salt doped nano-structured polymer dispersed liquid crystals device

Abstract

The nano-structured polymer dispersed liquid crystal (NPDLC) possesses several intriguing properties due to its nano-confined structure and unprecedented flexibility. However, the involved polymer networks necessitate a higher operating field which deteriorates the device's feasibility for real-device applications. Here, we demonstrate a simple technique to reduce the driving field by introducing a small amount of ionic salt into the NPDLC. The selective occupation of ionic salt during the phase separation reduces the interfacial energy of LC molecules, dipping by 40 % (3.6 V/µm) of the driving electric field. The electrohydrodynamic instability created by localized ion transportation led to reduced LC anchoring strength at the polymer interface at which the operating field was reduced. Our design is versatile and a potential alternative to the present NPDLC.