Mechanosensitive Liquid Crystalline Composites Based on Cholesterics Dispersed in Polyvinyl Alcohol Films

Abstract

New liquid crystalline composites based on polyvinyl alcohol films plasticized by glycerol with the dispersed droplets of cholesteric liquid crystal have been obtained and investigated. The mechano-optical properties of the obtained composites have been studied. It is shown that under the stretching the peak of selective light reflection shifts to the short-wavelength region of the spectrum. The amplitude of the shift depends on the stretching degree and reaches 100 nm. The obtained polymer composites are promising for creating optomechanical tensile and deformation sensors.