Boniello Giuseppe, Vilchez Victoria, Garre Emmanuel, Mondiot Frédéric
Surface du Verre et Interfaces, UMR 125, CNRS/Saint-Gobain, 39, quai Lucien Lefranc, Aubervilliers, Cedex F-93303, France.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2021 Jun;42(11):e2100087. doi: 10.1002/marc.202100087. Epub 2021 Apr 19.
Shaping liquid crystals (LCs) into arrays of defect patterns enables the design of composite materials with new stimuli-responsive properties. Self-assembled defect assemblies that may arise in layered smectic A (SmA) LCs such as focal conic domains (FCDs), exhibit remarkable optical features and abilities for ordering nanoparticles. However, such SmA defect patterns are essentially electrically irreversible, which currently limits their adjustability in a dynamic way. Here, in situ polymerization of the texture of SmA FCDs allows transferring them into more electrically responsive LC phases, such as nematic, making possible a dynamic switch between different textural and optical states of FCDs in a reversible manner with voltage. Moreover, the method readily enables to program the operating temperature range of the polymer/LC composite from its chemical composition, adapting the system to various potential uses. This approach may increment new applications of SmA defect patterns such as voltage-tunable privacy layers and may further inspire the design of LC-based nanostructured composite and hybrid materials with new functions that can be dynamically tuned with voltage.
将液晶（LC）塑造成缺陷图案阵列能够设计出具有新型刺激响应特性的复合材料。在层状近晶A（SmA）液晶中可能出现的自组装缺陷组装体，如焦锥域（FCD），展现出显著的光学特性以及排列纳米颗粒的能力。然而，此类SmA缺陷图案本质上是电不可逆的，这目前限制了它们以动态方式进行调节的能力。在此，通过对SmA FCD纹理进行原位聚合，可将其转变为更具电响应性的液晶相，如向列相，从而能够通过电压以可逆方式在FCD的不同纹理和光学状态之间进行动态切换。此外，该方法能够根据其化学成分轻松设定聚合物/液晶复合材料的工作温度范围，使系统适应各种潜在用途。这种方法可能会增加SmA缺陷图案的新应用，如电压可调隐私层，并可能进一步激发具有新功能的基于液晶的纳米结构复合材料和混合材料的设计，这些新功能可通过电压进行动态调节。
