Peculiarities of nonadditive changes in conductivity of nano-PDLC under influence of magnetite and single-wall carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Studied in this work has been the effect of nanoparticles – magnetite and single-wall carbon nanotubes – separately and together on the conductivity of nematic liquid crystal 6CHBT dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol. Morphology of these films was analyzed using an electron microscope. When using selected technologyof homogenizing the mixture components, there takes place formation of liquid crystals dispersed in the polymer matrix with the average sizes of liquid-crystal droplets close to 500 nm (nanoPDLC). It has been found that simultaneous introduction of magnetite and nanotubes results in lowering the conductivity of nano-PDLC as compared to the total conductivity of nano-PDLC with each kind of nanoparticles separately. It has been suggested that the main mechanism of this effect lies in formation of deep centers for electron capture by complexes with different types of nanoparticles, which leads to a decrease in electronic conductivity through the polymer matrix.