All-organic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal light-valves integrated with electroactive anthraquinone-2-sulfonate-doped polypyrrole thin films as driving electrodes

All-organic PDLC (polymer-dispersed liquid crystal) light-valves using all-polymer conductive substrates containing thin films of polypyrrole doped with anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQSA−) as the driving electrodes were fabricated in this study. The all-polymer conductive substrates were prepared under ambient conditions by in situ depositing polypyrrole thin films on blank flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate), or PET, substrates from aqueous media in which oxidative polymerization of pyrrole was taking place. The obtained flexible all-polymer conductive substrates were semi-transparent with cohesive coatings of AQSA−-doped polypyrrole thin films (thickness ∼55 nm). The all-polymer flexible conductive substrates had sheet resistivity ∼40 kΩ □ −1and T% transparency against air ∼78% at 600 nm. The light-valves fabricated using the above all-polymer conductive substrates showed ∼50% transparency against air at 600 nm when 4 V μm−1 electric field was applied.

► Fabrication of flexible semi-transparent all-polymer electrodes under ambient conditions without using a CVD system.
► Characterization of the above electrodes based on anthraquinone-2-sulfonate-doped polypyrrole thin films.
► Demonstration of all-organic liquid crystal light-valves with polypyrrole thin films as the driving electrodes.