Electrically switchable and optically tunable liquid crystal/ silicone oil based non-aqueous emulsions for electro-optical device applications

Liquid crystal/silicone oil based emulsions have been prepared and characterized for interfacial interactions, optical and electro-optical behaviour. Emulsions are stabilized without any surface-active agent via non-covalent interactions, surface alignment and anchoring conditions. Emulsions are characterized by polarizing optical microscopy. Distinct mesomorphic phases, droplet geometries (radial, hedgehog, bipolar) and transitions viz. radial to bipolar and bipolar to broken bipolar are observed as a function of varying silicone oil concentration in liquid crystal. These emulsions are quite stable and show reversible characteristics as a function of time and temperature. The stability of these emulsions has been explained considering hydrophobic interactions, decrease in internal surface tension and anchoring energy etc. Further, the liquid crystal/silicone oil devices have been fabricated and tested for switching and electro-optical behaviour. The emulsion contains 25% silicone oil in liquid crystal matrix shows the best switching characteristics at low deriving voltage 5 V, about 87% enhancement in optical transmission, 8.3 dB contrast and lower Frederiks threshold ~65%. Such switchable and optically tuneable surfactant-free emulsions with controlled morphological dynamics can provide a new door to design novel functional soft material platform for better optical, electro-optical, photonics, sensing and liquid crystals elastomer applications.