Preparation and characterization of polymer-stabilized cholesteric texture cells using (+)-bornylmethacrylate

Chiral monomeric (+)-bornyl methacrylate (BMA) was synthesized from (+)-camphor. The normal mode polymer-stabilized cholesteric texture (PSCT) crystal cells was fabricated using 97.3wt% of liquid crystal (E48/CB15 = 92/8) and 2.7 wt% of various compositions of chiral and achiral monomers. BMA was used as a chiral monomer and, 4,4'-bis[6-(acryloyloxy)hexyloxy]biphenyl and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate were used as achiral difunctional monomers. The electro-optical characteristics and the morphology of the PSCT cells with chiral and achiral polymer materials were investigated. The effects of monomer concentration and polymerization conditions of the chiral (+)-bornyl methacrylate on the electro-optical characteristics and morphology of PSCT cells were also investigated. It was found that the electro-optical characteristics of PSCT cells were improved by using the chiral monomer of (+)-bornyl methacrylate effectively. A PSCT cell was fabricated and the reversible turbid and transparent changes were examined by applying a 15 V electric field. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.