Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Microdroplets with Dual-Mode Structural Color Enabling Programmable Thermochromic Displays

Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) microdroplets are promising thermochromic materials due to their ease of fabrication and conformability to various application conditions. Here, we report CLC microdroplets with dual-mode structural color, a large reflection area, and a broad responsive temperature range. A scalable emulsion-templated strategy was employed to fabricate CLC microdroplets with high color uniformity. The thermochromic behavior of these CLC microdroplets can be finely tuned by engineering the components of CLC precursors. The contents of LC porogen 5CB, the host molecules of oligomer RM82-EDDT and monomer RM82, and the amounts of chiral dopant LC756 were systematically investigated to clarify the design space of CLC microdroplets. Using CLC microdroplets with designable color-changing pathways, a camouflage display and a temperature-sensing barcode were fabricated to demonstrate their potential applications. Our work provides a unique platform for thermochromic materials and is promising for thermochromic coatings, biosensing, anticounterfeiting labels, and smart displays.