Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Ying Chen, Huaruo Cui, Ran Duan, Ruiqi Tang, Yingping Tong, Dongyu Zhao, Wanli He
Summary: Blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) have significant potential as next-generation candidates for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), but they suffer from low brightness and energy efficiency due to the need for an extra backlight device. Carbon dots (CDs), a novel fluorescent carbon nanomaterial, were synthesized and introduced into BPLCs to create photoluminescent blue phase liquid crystals (CDs-BPLCs) with self-photoluminescence. CDs not only improve the stability of BPLCs, but also enhance their optical properties. This research opens up possibilities for the development of novel energy-saving display devices.
Review
Polymer Science
Yong Ye, Li Guo, Tingjun Zhong
Summary: Polymer-stabilized liquid crystals (PSLCs) are versatile materials with polymer networks providing anchoring energy for liquid crystals. This review details various improvements in PSLCs, including polymer-stabilized nematic, cholesteric, blue phase, smectic, ferroelectric, and antiferroelectric liquid crystals. PSLCs offer multiple functionalities, such as reorientation in smart windows and manual tuning of reflection bandwidth in broadband reflectors. PSBPLCs open up new possibilities for displays, modulators, sensors, lasers, lenses, and photonics applications. Polymer networks in PSFLCs or PSAFLCs enhance grayscale memories for flexible displays and energy-saving smart cards. The remaining challenges and research opportunities in PSLCs are also discussed.
Article
Optics
Risti Suryantari, Yi-hong Shih, Yu-han Shih, Hui-yu Chen, Cen-shawn Wu, Chia-yi Huang
Summary: This work utilizes surface acoustic waves (SAWs) generated by a piezoelectric substrate with an interdigital transducer (IDT) to fabricate a polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (PS-BPLC) layer. The PS-BPLC layer exhibits a more uniform optical microscope (OM) image and smaller full width at half maximum (FWHM) when a voltage of 2 mV is applied compared to zero voltage. The monodomain structure of the PS-BPLC layer is attributed to the longitudinal and transverse vibrations induced by SAWs in the vertical plane. The proposed method shows potential for low power consumption in the fabrication of reflective optical devices.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kyung Min Lee, Urice Tohgha, Timothy J. Bunning, Michael E. McConney, Nicholas P. Godman
Summary: Controlling the phase behavior of blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) can be achieved by varying the concentration of the amorphous crosslinker PETA. PETA stabilizes the BP-I phase and prevents the formation of the BP-II phase. The addition of PETA widens the temperature window of BP-I and polymer stabilization further enhances the properties of BPLCs.
Article
Crystallography
Kyung M. Lee, Timothy J. Bunning, Timothy J. White, Michael E. McConney, Nicholas P. Godman
Summary: The study demonstrates that the position and bandwidth of the selective reflection notch in polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) can be adjusted by applying a DC field. The concentration of ions trapped within the polymer network significantly influences the electro-optic response of PSCLC, with photoinitiators increasing ion density in PSCLC. By isolating the contribution of ionic impurities associated with liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) through initiator-less polymerization, the study shows that the tuning or bandwidth broadening of the CLC reflection band depends on the concentration of LCMs and the chirality of the LCM.
Article
Polymer Science
Yuanming Deng, Cuiting Li, Jiangtao Fan, Xie Guo
Summary: A novel open-to-air photo RAFT polymerization method was reported, in which a series of acrylate and methacrylate monomers were polymerized by a matching chain transfer agent irradiated by far-red light in DMSO. The polymerization initiation was achieved by the generation of hydroxyl radical (& BULL;OH) from methylene blue (MB) sensitized decomposition of H2O2 via photo-Fenton like-reaction. The living/control characteristic of the polymerization was evidenced by kinetic study, end-group fidelity characterization, and successful chain extension, while the temporary controllability was proved by light on/off switch experiment.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yang Zhang, Qi Zhan, Changrui Wang, Jie Gao, Guofu Zhou, Wei Zhao, Jiawen Chen
Summary: By utilizing reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization reactions, the polymer network structure in polymer-stabilized liquid crystals (PSLCs) can be regulated, resulting in increased elasticity and durability.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
L. N. Carenza, G. Gonnella, D. Marenduzzo, G. Negro, E. Orlandini
Summary: This study investigates the phase behavior of quasi-two-dimensional cholesteric liquid crystal shells and discovers novel topological phases that differ from those observed on flat geometries. For spherical shells, finite quasicrystals and amorphous structures are identified, which are made up of mixtures of polygonal tessellations of half-skynnions. For toroidal shells, variations in local curvature lead to the stabilization of heterogeneous phases where cholesteric patterns coexist with hexagonal lattices of half-skyrmions. These findings provide important insights for experimental self-assembling of cholesteric shells.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jie Liu, Yujie Chen, Feng Jin, Jingxia Wang, Tomiki Ikeda, Lei Jiang
Summary: This study successfully achieved multiwavelength laser output in dye-doped blue-phase liquid crystal films and controlled the wavelength and number of lasers by adjusting different parameters. These surface-emitting lasers can serve as light sources for next-generation optical devices.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Manlin Zhang, Michael Lindner-D'Addario, Mahdi Roohnikan, Violeta Toader, Robert Bruce Lennox, Linda Reven
Summary: This study investigates the dispersion of ethylene oxide oligomers and polymers, both free and tethered to gold nanoparticles, in blue phase liquid crystals (BPLC). The results show that the functionalization and molecular weight of the gold nanoparticles can affect the stability and temperature range of the blue phase.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Monirosadat Sadati, Jose A. Martinez-Gonzalez, Alexander Cohen, Sepideh Norouzi, Orlando Guzman, Juan J. de Pablo
Summary: This article introduces the concept of strain-controlled polymerization of blue phases under confinement, enabling the formation of strain-correlated stabilized morphologies that can adopt perfect single-crystal monodomain structures and undergo reversible crystal-to-crystal transformations under some circumstances.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Urice N. Tohgha, Ecklin P. Crenshaw, Michael E. McConney, Kyung Min Lee, Nicholas P. Godman
Summary: Nanoparticles of various shapes and sizes affect the optical properties and blue phase stabilization of BP liquid crystals. The dispersion of nanoparticles in the LC medium affects the position of the BP reflection band and the stabilization of BPs. The size and shape of nanomaterials greatly influence the interaction with LCs.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yujie Chen, Chenglin Zheng, Wenjie Yang, Jing Li, Feng Jin, Xiuhong Li, Jingxia Wang, Lei Jiang
Summary: This study successfully achieved a broad-temperature reconstructed laser based on a dye-doped polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal with a high working temperature range. The temperature-tunable behavior of the laser is associated with the phase transition of the unpolymerized content in the system.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sepideh Norouzi, Antonio Tavera-Vazquez, Johanan Ramirez-de Arellano, Dae Seok Kim, Teresa Lopez-Leon, Juan J. de Pablo, Jose A. Martinez-Gonzalez, Monirosadat Sadati
Summary: This study investigates the crystallization behavior of blue phase liquid crystals under curved confinement. The results show that the high curvature and spatial confinement can lead to the reconfiguration of the BPI phase into the BPII phase, resulting in different optical characteristics and structural morphologies. Additionally, the coupling of curvature and confinement leads to the nucleation of skyrmions at greater thicknesses.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Magdalena Knapkiewicz, Mariola Robakowska, Adam Rachocki
Summary: The effect of a photo-active reactive mesogen on an antiferroelectric liquid crystal was investigated to explore the potential broadening of the temperature range in which the smectic-C-alpha* phase exists in newly synthesized hybrid materials.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS
(2022)
