Switching of ferroelectric liquid crystal doped with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-assisted CdS nanostructures

Abstract

Large scale high yield cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowires with uniform diameter were synthesized using a rapid and simple solvo-chemical and hydrothermal route assisted by the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Unique CdS nanowires of different morphologies could be selectively produced by only varying the concentration of CTAB in the reaction system with cadmium acetate, sulfur powder and ethylenediamine. We obtained CdS nanowires with diameters of 64-65 nm and lengths of up to several micrometers. A comparative study of the optical properties of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) Felix-017/100 doped with 1% of CdS nanowires was performed. Response times of the order of from 160 to 180 /xs, rotational viscosities of the order of from 5000 to 3000 mN s m~2 and polarizations of the order of from 10 to 70 nC cm -2 were measured. We also observed an anti-ferroelectric to ferroelectric transition for CdS doped FLC instead of the ferroelectric to paraelectric transition for pure FLC.

Properties of a Thermotropic Nematic Liquid Crystal Doped with Graphene Oxide

“…[ 1,2 ] The incorporation of various nanomaterials into liquid crystals (LCs), and the complexity of their interaction, have recently attracted much interest. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The addition of nanoparticles (NPs) to liquid crystals produces composite materials with additional functionality, and tunable optic, electric, magnetic, or electrooptic properties. Both molecular and macroscopic bulk properties are modifi ed.…”

“…[ 3,4,[8][9][10] Recently, 1D nanoparticles, such as nanowires, were found to be effective for increasing the orientational order of liquid crystalline systems. [ 11 ] Rajh et al compared the effects of nanowires, nanorods, and nanotubes; they concluded that, due to the small aspect ratio, the nanorods showed more compatibility than the other nanomaterials. [ 12 ] In addition, 2D graphene fl akes doped in NLCs have improved electrooptic switching and dielectric anisotropy.…”

Influence of ZnO nanostructures in liquid crystal interfaces for bistable switching applications

“…The resulting mixture was left to vigorous stir at 70°C for 3 hours to complete the whole reaction mechanism. We investigated that in our first set of experiment white precipitate was obtained, while next gray colored precipitate was (1) and calculated with the help of the following relation [24,[49][50]:…”

“…The viscosity (γ) was determined from the measured value of the Polarization (P s ) and the switching time (τ) using the following relation [24];…”

“…Numerous efforts have been employed to change the EO properties of the ferroelectric/anti-ferroelectric liquid crystals doping with nanomaterials [24], but the use of non-covalent interactions have great potential in the design of functional organic liquid-crystalline materials. For molecular aggregation, hydrogen bonding plays an important Page 6 of 39 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 6 role in the association of molecules.…”