Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) can be added to liquid crystals (LCs) to form LC nanocomposites. These nanocomposites can impart the electro-optical properties of the NPs to the LCs while the LCs can control the spatial distribution and properties of the particles. The surface coatings of these NPs can be designed to prevent uncontrolled aggregation. Mesogenic ligands often provide the best stabilization but require custom synthesis. We are exploring polymer ligands as an alternative, as they offer synthetic simplicity as well as chemical and molecular weight tunability. In particular, we are varying the polymer chain flexibility since more rigid chains can better couple to the nematic order whereas flexible polymers should strongly phase separate.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.