We demonstrate a polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) with negligible hysteresis while keeping submillisecond response time. By doping about 1% dodecyl acrylate (C12A) into the liquid crystal/monomer precursor, both hysteresis and residual birefringence are almost completely eliminated. The operating voltage and scattering properties remain nearly intact, but the tradeoff is enhanced double re...

We have used thermal treatment and rubbed polyimide alignment layers to produce large domains of poly(9,9dioctylfluorene-co-bithiophene) alternating copolymer (F8T2). The direction of rubbing on the polyimide surface determines the orientation of these domains, allowing us to create thin-film transistors with channel lengths parallel and perpendicular to the liquid crystal polymer director. We ...

Photoalignment of nematic liquid crystals is demonstrated using a di-π-methane rearrangement of a designed polymer. The alignment mechanism makes use of the strong coupling of the liquid crystal directors to dibenzobarrelene groups. The large structural changes that accompany photoisomerization effectively passivate segments of the polymer, allowing the remaining dibenzobarrelene groups to domi...

We consider the interaction between nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) and polymer substrates. Such substrates can interact with NLCs, exhibiting a phenomenon known as director gliding: the preferred orientation of the NLC molecules at the interface changes on time scales that are slow relative to the elastic relaxation time scale of the NLC. We present two models for gliding, inspired by experimen...

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The role of liquid crystalline mesophases in polymer crystallization has seen increased attention following the observations of meta-stable liquid crystalline pre-ordering in the crystallization of isotactic polypropylene and other flexible polymers [1–7]. In addition to these recent observations, both in Nature and industry liquid crystal mesophases are used to create polymeric materials with ...

Liquid crystals are often combined with polymers to influence the liquid crystals' orientation and mechanical properties, but at the expense of reorientation speed or uniformity of alignment. We introduce a new method to create self-assembled nematic liquid-crystal gels using an ABA triblock copolymer with a side-group liquid-crystalline midblock and liquid-crystal-phobic endblocks. In contrast...

We have employed time dependent fluorescence polarization to investigate a main chain semiflexible polyester type liquid crystal polymer using the fluorescent probe 1,6-diphenylhexatriene. We have obtained the second rank order parameter and the tumbling reorientational time of the probeas a functionof temperature. Wehave found the polymer disordering to occur in a temperature range very close ...