Hole transporting properties of discotic liquid-crystalline semiconductor confined in calamitic UV-crosslinked gel

The influence of polymer network on hole transport in discotic liquid crystal (LC) is investigated by the time of flight charge carrier mobility measurements. Composites of discotic LC and nematic reactive mesogen undergo UV-activated polymerization in columnar phase which yields the formation of chemical gels. Polarized optical microscopy allows us to observe alignment effect, whether scanning electron microscopy helps us to obtain characteristic imprint of polydomain columnar phase in created polymeric network. Hole mobility is improved, presumably due to the stabilization of the alignment of discotic LC. This type of composite is relevant for potential multilayer and flexible device applications.