Integrated carbon nanotubes for novel liquid crystal displays

Free-standing veils of parallel carbon nanotube (CNTs) wires can be easily integrated in devices as transparent and conductive layers and they are particularly interesting for liquid crystals since they can act also as aligning layers. We have realized cells for liquid crystals using aligned carbon nanotube wires in sheets drawn from spinnable forests and obtained light modulation by switching the LC. The 5CB and E7 nematic liquid crystal align planarly and the unidirectional alignment direction is determined by the CNT orientation within the sheets and by applying the voltage directly to the CNTs we obtained the electro-optic switching with the LC. The CNT sheets prove to be efficient multifunctional layers for new LC displays, perfectly compatible with flexible substrates due to their mechanical characteristics as it will be described here.