Ultra-low switching reverse mode liquid crystal gels

This research investigates the electro-optical properties of reverse mode liquid crystal gel (LC-gel) scattering films. The LC-gel has been fabricated through the fibrous self-assembly of the gelator 12-hydroxydodecanoic acid (G12) and mesogen monomer (RM257) in nematic LC HTW106700-100 (HTW). Adding RM257 monomer improves the transparency in the OFF state and enhances scattering effects in the ON state. Moreover, an extremely low switching voltage (∼ 1 V) is demonstrated.