Morphological, electro-optical and UV-visible spectroscopic analysis of pure cholesteric liquid crystal.

Morphological, electro-optical and UV-Visible spectroscopic analysis of pure cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) was carried out and reported herein. CLC mixture was prepared using 4 wt% R1011 (chiral dopant) having helical twisting power (HTP) of 37.6 μm−1 with nematic liquid crystal (LC). An empty cell was filled with this homogenous mixture using capillary method. The prepared CLC cell shows initial focal conic (FC) stable state and switched to a see-through vertical state under the applied voltage. However, the opaque FC state of the CLC cell also converted into a perfect planar (P) state without any visible oily streak with application of pressure. Again, this transparent P state switch to the FC state by applying voltage. The maximum and minimum transmittance, operating voltage and contrast ratio etc. have also been reported. The temperature dependence phase behavior study shows that there is a slight decrease in the isotropic temperature of LC due to doping of chiral molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]