Preparation of Electro-optically Responsive Liquid Crystal Nanocapsules by Miniemulsion Polymerization of Oil-in-Water Emulsion Monomer Droplets

Electro-optically responsive liquid crystal (LC) nanocapsules were prepared by miniemulsion polymerization of oil-in-water emulsion monomer droplets dissolving LC compounds. As theoretically predicted based on the spreading coefficients, the choice of capsule wall-forming monomers was important for the formation of the capsule structure. The copolymerization of fluorine-containing monomers effectively suppressed the interaction between the LC compound and the capsule wall, allowing the LC molecules to repeatedly change their orientation in response to an external electric field. Electro-optically responsive liquid crystal (LC) nanocapsules were prepared by miniemulsion polymerization of oil-in-water emulsion monomer droplets dissolving LC compounds. We demonstrated that LC nanocapsules responsive to electric fields could be successfully fabricated as theoretically predicted based on the spreading coefficients by appropriately selecting the capsule wall-forming monomers.