Modification of electro-optical properties of polymer dispersed liquid crystal films by iniferter polymerization

In this letter, iniferter polymerization was employed to prepare polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films. Polystyrene (PS) was prepared as a macro-iniferter (MI). With the addition of MI in PDLC films, poly(methyl acrylate)-b-polystyrene was prepared in situ and used as polymer matrix in photopolymerization induced phase separation (PIPS). A reduction in driving voltages and an improvement in the ON state transmittance were observed for the sample prepared with a small amount of MI; while a poor electro-optical performance was obtained for that without any MI. Moreover, molecular weight and refractive index of the polymer matrix could be easily adjusted by the concentration of MI, and the matrix seems to be a prospective material for the PDLC devices.