Macromolecules, Vol.28, No.23, 7937-7941, 1995
Effect of Polymerization Reactivity, Interfacial Strength, and Gravity on Polymerization-Induced Phase-Separation
The effect of polymerization reactivity, interfacial strength, and gravity on the size and distribution of the liquid crystal droplets in polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films obtained by a polymerization-induced phase separation (PIPS) process is studied by a newly developed reversible cluster-cluster aggregation model. These parameters directly influence the formation of polymer networks and, therefore, can modify the final state of PDLC films. Our simulation shows that the droplet distribution function P of the liquid crystal assumes a narrower spectrum when the polymerization reactivity and the interfacial strength between the liquid crystal and the polymer increases, while its main peak position remains virtually unchanged (at around N = 1). At weak interfacial strength the gravity is found to play a minor role in the controlling of the size of the liquid crystal droplets. However, the gravity effect on the size of the liquid crystal droplets becomes a dominant factor when interfacial strength increases.