Materials + Technologies Group, Escuela Politécnica, Departamento Ingeniería Química y Medio Ambiente, Universidad País Vasco, Plaza Europa 1, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
Langmuir. 2010 Mar 16;26(6):4296-302. doi: 10.1021/la9034003.
Conductive properties of different thermosetting materials modified with nematic 4'-(hexyl)-4-biphenyl-carbonitrile (HBC) liquid crystal and rutile TiO(2) nanoparticles were successfully studied by means of tunneling atomic force miscroscopy (TUNA). Taking into account the liquid crystal state of the HBC at room temperature, depending on both the HBC content and the presence of TiO(2) nanoparticles, designed materials showed different TUNA currents passed through the sample. The addition of TiO(2) nanoparticles into the systems multiply the detected current if compared to the thermosetting systems without TiO(2) nanoparticles and simultaneously stabilized the current passed through the sample, making the process reversible since the absolute current values were almost the same applying both negative and positive voltage. Moreover, thermosetting systems modified with liquid crystals with and without TiO(2) nanoparticles are photoluminescence switchable materials as a function of temperature gradient during repeatable heating/cooling cycle. Conductive properties of switchable photoluminescence thermosetting systems based on liquid crystals can allow them to find potential application in the field of photoresponsive devices, with a high contrast ratio between transparent and opaque states.
通过隧道原子力显微镜（TUNA）成功研究了用向列型 4'-(己基)-4-联苯甲腈（HBC）液晶和锐钛矿 TiO(2)纳米粒子改性的不同热固性材料的导电性能。考虑到 HBC 在室温下的液晶状态，根据 HBC 的含量和 TiO(2)纳米粒子的存在，设计的材料表现出通过样品的不同 TUNA 电流。与不含 TiO(2)纳米粒子的热固性系统相比，将 TiO(2)纳米粒子添加到系统中会使检测到的电流增加，并且同时稳定通过样品的电流，由于施加正、负电压时的绝对电流值几乎相同，因此该过程是可逆的。此外，用含有和不含有 TiO(2)纳米粒子的液晶改性的热固性系统是光致发光可切换材料，作为在可重复加热/冷却循环期间温度梯度的函数。基于液晶的可切换光致发光热固性系统的导电性能可以使它们在光响应器件领域找到潜在的应用，在透明和不透明状态之间具有高对比度。
