• 文献标题:   Graphene-Augmented Polymer Stabilization: Drastically Reduced and Temperature-Independent Threshold and Improved Contrast Liquid Crystal Device
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   BARAL M, BRAMHAIAH K, JOHN NS, PRASAD SK
  • 作者关键词:  
  • 出版物名称:   ACS OMEGA
  • ISSN:   2470-1343
  • 通讯作者地址:   Ctr Nano Soft Matter Sci
  • 被引频次:   2
  • DOI:   10.1021/acsomega.8b03026
  • 出版年:   2019

▎ 摘  要

Polymers reinforced with nanofillers, especially graphene in recent times, have continued to attract attention to realize novel materials that are cheap and also have better properties. At a different level, encapsulating liquid crystals (LCs) in polymer networks not only adds mechanical strength, but could also result in device-based refractive index mismatch. Here, we describe a novel strategy combining the best of both these concepts to create graphene-incorporated polymer-stabilized LC (PSLC) devices. The presence of graphene associated with the virtual surface of the polymer network besides introducing distinct morphological changes to the polymer architecture as seen by electron microscopy brings out several advantages for the PSLC characteristics, which include 7-fold lowered critical voltage, its temperature invariance, and enhanced contrast ratio between field-off scattering/field-on transparent states. The results bring to fore the importance of working at verydilute-concentration limits of the filler nanoparticles in augmenting the desired properties. These observations open up a new vista for polymer-graphene composites in the area of device engineering, including substrate-free smart windows.