Reverse-mode polymer dispersed liquid crystal films prepared by patterned polymer walls

This article proposes a methodology to prepare polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films working in the reverse-mode operation, where the ion-doped nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) with negative dielectric anisotropy (epsilon) were locked by polymer walls. On-state and off-state of films were controlled by an electric field. In the absence of an electric field, it appears to be transparent. In the field, the homogeneous alignment NLCs form dynamic scattering, giving rise to opaque. The effect of the cylindrical holes with different diameters of photo masks and liquid crystal epsilon on the electro-optical properties and transmittance wavelength range of 400-3000nm light of samples were investigated. It was found that it exhibited very good electro-optical characteristics, high contrast ratio and excellent infrared energy-efficient of films used as switchable windows.Sino-American Cooperative Project of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology [2013DFB50340]; Beijing Science & Technology Program [Z121100006512002]; Major Program of Chinese Ministry of Education [313002]; Doctoral Fund of Chinese Ministry of Education [20120001130005]; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2013M540017]; National Natural Science Foundation [51473020]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [FRF-TP-14-001A2]SCI(E)ARTICLEcaohui@mater.ustb.edu.cn; zhangly@126.com; yanghuai@pku.edu.cn91320-13284