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

• Дата: 2012
• Автори: Dolgov, L., Yaroshchuk, O., Tomylko, S., Lebovka, N.
• Формат: Стаття
• Мова: English
• Опубліковано: Інститут фізики конденсованих систем НАН України 2012
• Назва видання: Condensed Matter Physics
• Онлайн доступ: http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/120794
• Назва журналу: Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Цитувати: Electro-optical memory of a nematic liquid crystal doped by multi-walled carbon nanotubes / L. Dolgov, O. Yaroshchuk, S. Tomylkom, N. Lebovka// Condensed Matter Physics. — 2012. — Т. 15, № 3. — С. 33401:1-8. — Бібліогр.: 17 назв. — англ.

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 \textit{in situ} dispergation of carbon nanotubes in LC cells.