Electro-optical memory of a nematic liquid crystal doped by multi-walled carbon nanotubes

A pronounced irreversible electro-optical response (memory effect) has been recently observed for nematic liquid crystal (LC) EBBA doped by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) near the percolation threshold of the MWCNTs (0.02÷0.05 wt. %). It is caused by irreversible homeotropic-to-planar reorie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Condensed matter physics 2012-01, Vol.15 (3), p.33401
Main Authors: Dolgov, Yaroshchuk, Tomylko, Lebovka
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
carbon nanotubes
liquid crystal
memory effect
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Summary:A pronounced irreversible electro-optical response (memory effect) has been recently observed for nematic liquid crystal (LC) EBBA doped by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) near the percolation threshold of the MWCNTs (0.02÷0.05 wt. %). It is caused by irreversible homeotropic-to-planar reorientation of LC in an electric field. This feature is explained by electro-hydrodynamically stimulated dispergation of MWCNTs in LC and by the formation of a percolation MWCNT network which acts as a spatially distributed surface stabilizing the planar state of the LC. This mechanism is confirmed by the absence of memory in the EBBA/MWCNT composites, whose original structure is fixed by a polymer. The observed effect suggests new operation modes for the memory type and bistable LC devices, as well as a method for in situ dispergation of carbon nanotubes in LC cells.
ISSN:1607-324X
DOI:10.5488/CMP.15.33401