Effect of anisotropic MoS_2 nanoparticles on the blue phase range of a chiral liquid crystal

摘要

Liquid-crystalline blue phases are attracting significant interest due to their potential for applications related to tunable photonic crystals and fast optical displays. In this work a brief theoretical model is presented accounting for the impact of anisotropic nanoparticles on the blue phase stability region. This model is tested by means of high-resolution calorimetric and optical measurements of the effect of anisotropic, surface-functionalized MoS_2 nanoparticles on the blue phase range of a chiral liquid crystal. The addition of these nanoparticles effectively increases the temperature range of blue phases and especially the cubic structure of blue phase I.