Monodisperse Liquid Crystalline Polymer Shells with Programmable Alignment and Shape Prepared by Seeded Dispersion...

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Liquid crystalline (LC) polymers offer unique optical and electronic properties.
• Creating well-defined microstructures with controlled LC alignment remains a challenge.
• Hollow polymer shells are versatile structures for various applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for preparing monodisperse, micrometer-sized hollow liquid crystalline polymer shells.
• To demonstrate the control over LC alignment and final shell shape using polymer seeds.
• To explore the versatility of the method for different LC mixtures.

Main Methods:

• Seeded dispersion polymerization of LC monomer mixtures.
• Utilizing non-crosslinked polymer seeds (amorphous or bipolar LC) to direct LC alignment.
• Removal of polymer seeds to create hollow shells.
• Characterization using polarized optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.

Main Results:

• Successfully prepared hollow LC polymer shells with programmable alignment and shape.
• Radial alignment achieved with amorphous seeds, resulting in dimpled shells.
• Bipolar alignment achieved with bipolar LC seeds, leading to biconcave shells upon seed removal.
• Shell collapse observed at defect points, influenced by crosslink density.
• Demonstrated preparation of biconcave shells using different LC mixtures.

Conclusions:

• Seeded dispersion polymerization is a versatile method for creating hollow LC polymer shells.
• The choice of polymer seed effectively controls the internal LC alignment and external shell morphology.
• The method offers a pathway to tunable microparticles with potential applications in optics and electronics.