Eur. Phys. J. E (2017) 40: 37
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2017-11524-6

Regular Article

Effects of photoinitiator on electro-optical properties of polymerization-induced phase separation blue-phase liquid crystals

¹ Engineering Faculty, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Muradiye, Turkey
² Liquid Crystal Institute and Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

^* e-mail: emine.kemiklioglu@cbu.edu.tr

Received: 12 December 2016
Accepted: 2 March 2017
Published online: 3 April 2017

Abstract

We have reported polymer-dispersed blue-phase (PDBP) liquid-crystal films via polymerization-induced phase separation. PDBP films are prepared by photochemical polymerization of curable crosslinking agent, monomer and blue-phase liquid crystal under an ultraviolet (UV) light. The influences of photoinitiator and weight ratio between monomer/crosslinking agent and blue phase on the electro-optical properties of PDBP liquid-crystal samples are investigated. The electro-optical (E-O) properties of PDBP films are determined in the top-down electro-optical cell. PDBP liquid-crystal films show good E-O properties with high contrast ratio and fast response time.