Angular Photochromic LC Composite Film for an Anti-Counterfeiting Label

In the harsh application environment, improving the mechanical properties of liquid crystal materials is a fundamental and important problem in the design of anti-counterfeit materials. In this paper, by a stepwise polymerization of first, photo-polymerization and subsequently thermal-polymerization, a coexistent polymer dispersed network was first constructed in cholesteric liquid crystal materials containing a photo-polymerizable system of urethane acrylate and a thermo-polymerizable system of isocyanate. Results revealed that the coexistent polymer dispersed network exhibited largely enhanced mechanical performance, and the networks obtained by different methods had different contributions to the enhancement of the peel strength and toughness of the composite films. Then an angular photochromic anti-fake label based on a coexistent polymer dispersed network with enhanced mechanical and apparent angular discoloration characteristics, suitable for practical applications, was successfully achieved.