Open AccessFlexible thermal responsive infrared reflector based on cholesteric liquid crystals and polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals
Author(s) -
Beibei Zhang,
Xianyu Lin,
Yi You,
Xiaowen Hu,
Laurens T. de Haan,
Wei Zhao,
Guofu Zhou,
Dong Yuan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.013516
Subject(s) - materials science , transmittance , optics , cholesteric liquid crystal , liquid crystal , reflector (photography) , optoelectronics , infrared , reflection (computer programming) , polyethylene terephthalate , polymer , liquid crystal display , composite material , light source , physics , computer science , programming language
In this study, we fabricated a temperature-responsive infrared reflector that adjusts to temperature changes by changing its transmittance of incident IR light. The device utilized a thermally induced change in the pitch of a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) to achieve near-infrared light reflection in a particular wavelength range. In addition, a polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal (PSCLC) was used as an alternative to further optimize the device performance. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was used as the substrate material to allow the reflector to be flexible. The light transmission performance of the reflector at different bending angles was explored, and no significant effect was found. A simulated solar device was established to study the temperature regulation effects of both CLC and PSCLC devices.