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He Z, Yu P, Zhang H, Zhao Y, Zhu Y, Guo Z, Ma C, Zhang H, Miao Z, Shen W. Silicon nanostructure-doped polymer/nematic liquid crystal composites for low voltage-driven smart windows. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2021; 33:085205. [PMID: 34787111 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac3a3b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
In this work, two silicon nanostructures were doped into polymer/nematic liquid crystal composites to regulate the electric-optical performance. Commercial SiO2nanoparticles and synthesized thiol polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS-SH) were chosen as the dopants to afford the silicon nanostructures. SiO2nanoparticles were physically dispersed in the composites and the nanostructure from POSS-SH was implanted into the polymer matrix of the composites via photoinduced thiol-ene crosslinking. Scanning electron microscopy results indicated that the implantation of POSS microstructure into the polymer matrix was conducive to obtaining the uniform porous polymer microstructures in the composites while the introduction of SiO2nanoparticles led to the loose and heterogeneous polymer morphologies. The electric-optical performance test results also demonstrated that the electric-optical performance regulation effect of POSS microstructure was more obvious than that of SiO2nanoparticles. The driving voltage was reduced by almost 80% if the concentration of POSS-SH in the composite was nearly 8 wt% and the sample could be completely driven by the electric field whose voltage was lower than the safe voltage for continuous contact (24 V). This work could provide a creative approach for the regulation of electric-optical performance for polymer/nematic liquid crystal composites and the fabrication of low voltage-driven PDLC films for smart windows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zemin He
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Photoelectric Materials, School of Sciences, Xijing University, Xi'an, 710123, People's Republic of China
| | - Ping Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, People's Republic of China
| | - Huimin Zhang
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Photoelectric Materials, School of Sciences, Xijing University, Xi'an, 710123, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuzhen Zhao
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Photoelectric Materials, School of Sciences, Xijing University, Xi'an, 710123, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanfang Zhu
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Photoelectric Materials, School of Sciences, Xijing University, Xi'an, 710123, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhun Guo
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Photoelectric Materials, School of Sciences, Xijing University, Xi'an, 710123, People's Republic of China
| | - Cheng Ma
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Photoelectric Materials, School of Sciences, Xijing University, Xi'an, 710123, People's Republic of China
| | - Haiquan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, People's Republic of China
| | - Zongcheng Miao
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Optics and Electronics (iOPEN), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenbo Shen
- Research Center for Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Laboratory, Hangzhou, 311100, People's Republic of China
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Abdulhalim I, Madhuri PL, Diab M, Mokari T. Novel easy to fabricate liquid crystal composite with potential for electrically or thermally controlled transparency windows. OPTICS EXPRESS 2019; 27:17387-17401. [PMID: 31252949 DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.017387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Switchable liquid crystal (LC) composites are a unique and attractive class of functional materials due to their extensive use in various applications including smart and privacy windows. Demand for developing smart windows with good switchable performance has steadily increasing in the past decades due to their importance in energy saving. Herein, we present the use of novel and highly active switchable LC composite material-octadecanol-doped LC-prepared via a facile, low-cost, and scalable process, for thermally or electrically controlled transparency windows. A systematic study of the switchable behavior reveals the formation of a reversible molecular arrangement between the LC and the octadecanol, which allows control of the transparency through scattering modulation of the device by voltage or temperature. The devices fabricated by sandwiching the LC composite material between two ITO-covered glass slides present switchable performance with high potential for cost-effective utilization in various applications, such as light shutters, smart or privacy windows.
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