Nematic Liquid Crystals Dispersed with Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes: A Perspective Way for Improving the Response Time and Birefringence of Electro-Optical Devices
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Abstract
This study investigated dielectric and electro-optical performance of nematic liquid crystal (LC) dispersed with carboxylic acid functionalized carbon nanotubes (fCNT). The investigation reveals the LC-fCNT composite systems exhibits nearly 60% faster response time as compare to pure LC. The composite system also revealed a reduced rotational viscosity and an enhanced dielectric anisotropy by the ion trapping mechanism at the adsorbing cites of carbon. Dielectric spectra of vertically aligned (VA) LC cells explained a remarkable reduction in relaxation time (about short molecular axis) hence rotational viscosity of LC-fCNT composite systems. The results suggest a specific concentration of fCNT doping in LC decrease the rotational viscosity and hence accelerated the electro-optical response and also does not affect the nematic director called threshold limit of concentration (in our case up to 0.05 wt%). The measurement also confirms that the significant enhancement in nematic-isotropic phase transition temperature (TNI). Consequently, birefringence also enhanced the anchoring energy due to p-p electron stacking between LC and fCNT enhanced the order parameter of LC-fCNT composite systems. These results successfully demostrate the dielectric and electro-optical operations of LC-fCNT composite systems.
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References
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