The effect of the resultant microphase-separated structures of polymer matrices on the electro-optical properties of polymer dispersed liquid crystal films by Iniferter polymerization

Iniferter polymerization was employed to prepare polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films and an additional photoinitiator was introduced to induce the phase separation of polymer matrices themselves on the process of preparing the PDLC. The effect of the polymerization kinetics and the resultant microphase-separated structures of polymer matrices on the electro-optical properties of PDLC films were studied. It was found that the bigger length scale of phase separation of polymer matrices induced strong light-scattering resulting in low ON-state transmittance. And faster polymerization kinetic induced higher threshold and saturation voltages.