Dispersion of liquid crystal droplets in a photopolymerized matrix and devices made therefrom
First Claim
1. A composite material, comprising a plurality of droplets of a liquid crystal material within a matrix of a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate and a multifunctional mercaptan, the liquid crystal having a solubility in the copolymer that is less than its solubility in a mixture of the unpolymerized constituents.
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Abstract
A composite material having droplets of a liquid crystal material in a matrix of a coploymer of a multifunctional acrylate, or a mixture of different multifunctional acrylates, and a multifunctional mercaptan is prepared by photopolymerization. The liquid crystal material is initially mixed with a multifunctional acrylate monomer, a multifunctional mercaptan, and a photoinitiator to form a solution. The solution is exposed to ultraviolet light, whereupon the multifunctional acrylate monomer and multifunctional mercaptan copolymerize in a step reaction, and the liquid crystal separates from the copolymer as droplets dispersed throughout the copolymer matrix. The resulting material is placed between transparent, electrically conducting plates to form an electro-optic display device.
89 Citations
14 Claims
- 1. A composite material, comprising a plurality of droplets of a liquid crystal material within a matrix of a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate and a multifunctional mercaptan, the liquid crystal having a solubility in the copolymer that is less than its solubility in a mixture of the unpolymerized constituents.
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12. A liquid crystal display device, comprising:
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a pair of spaced transparent conductive substrates; and a composite material disposed between said substrates, said composite material comprising a plurality of droplets of a liquid crystal material within a matrix of a copolymer of a multifunctional acrylate, having at least two functional groups selected from the group consisting of acryloyl and methacryloyl, and a multifunctional mercaptan, having at least two thiol groups, the solubility of the liquid crystal material being greater in a solution of the multifunctional acrylate and the multifunctional mercaptan than in the copolymer formed from the solution by photopolymerization. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification