Reverse Mode Polymer-Stabilized Liquid Crystal Films via Thiol and Acrylic Azobenzene

Reverse mode polymer-stabilized liquid crystal (RPSLC)have shownsignificant promise in energy-saving smart windows. However, to makethem practical for widespread use, it is crucial to reduce the operatingvoltage and enhance the contrast ratio. Here, we introduce an approachto achieving these goals by using acrylic azobenzene, which servesas both a polymerizable monomer and dopant in RPSLC films fabricatedusing photopolymerization. The results showed that the polymer morphologiescould be manipulated by varying the contents of liquid crystal andazobenzene, leading to significant improvements in the electro-optical(EO) properties of the RPSLC films. Particularly, great improvementsin EO properties were realized by doping a 0.3 wt % azobenzene monomer,the threshold voltage was lowered from 18.2 to 11.5 V, and the contrastratio was raised from 115.6 to 185.9. This work provides mechanisticinsight to regulate the microstructure and optimize the EO propertiesof RPSLC films.