Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films with a partially fluorinated polymer matrix were investigated. The optical and morphological properties of fluorinated PDLC's were different from non-fluorinated films. The incremental addition of a fluorine-substituted monofunctional methacrylate monomer to a pentaacrylate-based standard PDLC formulation resulted in significant improvement in contrast ratio. In addition, results suggest that fluorine decreased compatibility between the polymer and liquid crystal phases. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to elucidate morphological differences between fluorinated host matrices and non-fluorinated control films.