Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 11, Issue 40, Pages 37026-37034Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b10286
Keywords
smart window; polymer brush; UV response; photothermal effect
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFS) [21975215, 21674088]
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNMLS) [201815]
- Hunan 2011 Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chemical Engineering & Technology with Environmental Benignity and Effective Resource Utilization
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An azobenzene side chain liquid crystalline copolymer (MAzo-co-GMA) is successfully synthesized through copolymerizing the monomer 6-(4-((4-butylphenyl)-diazenyl)phenoxy)hexyl methacrylate (MAzo) with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The obtained MAzo-co-GMA copolymer can form stabilized polymer brush on the surface after thermal annealing. The obtained polymer brush not only induces the alignment of liquid crystals but also shows a photothermal effect under UV light irradiation due to the azobenzene side group. On basis of these results, the LC cell with this polymer brush as the substrate is further used to fabricate the polymer-stabilized liquid crystal (PSLC) smart window. The resultant PSLC smart window shows the transparent state because the homeotropic alignment in the SmA* phase of PSLC is induced by the polymer brush on the surface of the LC cell. The opaque state can be achieved in the scattering N* phase by UV light irradiation or heating. The response time of the PSLC smart window can be regulated by adjusting the concentration of MAzo-co-GMA copolymer brush and the intensity of UV light. This kind of PSLC smart window with both thermal and UV response shows good reversibility and stability, which endows enormous promising applications in energy-saving devices.
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