Low-voltage polymer-stabilised blue-phase liquid crystals with oleic acid (OA)-modified LaF₃ nanoparticles

Abstract

The resultant oleic acid (OA)-modified LaF3 (OA-LaF3) NPs were easily dispersed well in common organic solvents or liquid crystals (LCs). Usually, the stability of BPs depends on a well-arranged double-twisted alignment and a stable defect. Theoretical simulation shows that the BPLCs is likely to trap the doped nanoparticles due to the elastic interactions.By means of the OA-LaF3 NPs we synthesized and doping into conventional polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals (PS-BPLCs), it was observed that the on-state voltage can be reduced by 41% when the PS-BPLCs doped with 0.8wt. % OA-LaF3 NPs compared with that PS-BPLCs without OA-LaF3 NPs. It showed significant effects on the driving voltage when doping OA-LaF3 NPs to PS-BPLCs. Our studies will certainly provide an effective and simple method to stabilize cubic BP structures and improve the electronic-optical performances, leading to potential applications in areas of displays as well as optoelectronic devices.