The need for mechanical manipulation during the curing of conventional liquid crystal elastomers diminishes their applicability in the field of shape-programmable soft materials and future applications in additive manufacturing. Here we report on polymer-dispersed liquid crystal elastomers, novel composite materials that eliminate this difficulty. Their thermal shape memory anisotropy is imprin...

We propose a new theoretical scheme for the binary phase diagrams of crystal-liquid crystal mixtures by a combination of a phase field model of solidification, the Flory-Huggins theory for liquid-liquid mixing and Maier-Saupe-McMillan (FH-MSM) model for nematic and smectic liquid crystal orderings. The phase field theory describes the crystal phase transition of anisotropic organic crystal and/...

We elucidate the polymer dynamics of a liquid crystal elastomer based on the time-dependent response of the pendent liquid crystal mesogens. The molecular tilt and switching time of mesogens are analyzed as a function of temperature and cross-linking density upon application of an electric field. We observe an unexpected maximum in the switching time of the liquid crystal mesogens at intermedia...

– We have incorporated nematic liquid crystal into periodic, polymer host structures templated from self-assembled colloids. Using these composite materials, we demonstrate the first electrically switchable three-dimensional Bragg diffraction. The switchable beam deflection is potentially useful for non-mechanical beam steering and optical beam splitting devices. We compare the electro-optic re...

Liquid crystal (LC) based photonic devices are important in light modulated applications including amplitude modulation and phase modulation. [Yang et al. (2006)] The anisotropic properties of LC result in employing two polarizers in most of LC devices. The optical efficiency (~3%) and the viewing angle are limited. Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop polarizer-free LC devices. [Yang e...

A different phase-separation process is capable of producing a composite system consisting of a very thin layer of liquid crystal in contact with a similarly thin layer of polymer. The morphology of the polymer depends on the composition of the prepolymer-liquid crystal mixture and the rate of polymerization. A simple one-dimensional theory is able to describe the essential features of this pro...