Electro-optical properties of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal prepared by monodisperse poly(methyl methacrylate)/fluorinated liquid crystal microcapsules

A liquid crystal (LC) containing the fluorine group was encapsulated into poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles by using the solute co-diffusion method (SCM). The PMMA/LC composites were applied to a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) and their electro-optical properties were investigated. The medium solvency, methylene chloride (MC) content, and the crosslinking density of substrate particles were adjusted for the complete swelling of LC into the substrate particles during the SCM procedure. In comparison with the PDLC film prepared by conventional PIPS method, the PDLC by microcapsules showed a good electro-optical property due to uniform and mononuclear type of LC domains. In addition, the size of LC droplets in the particles increased with increasing the LC content, resulting in the enhancement of electro-optical property. The hysteresis effect of PDLC using LC microcapsules was negligible.