LAUSR

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) spontaneously organizing into a periodic helical structure with a twist axis perpendicular to the local director can reflect selected wavelengths of circularly polarized light. The structural color can be easily controlled by manipulating the helical structure, temperature, electric field, and magnetic field. Despite the unique structure and superior performances, free-standing CLCs with confined fluidity, stimuli response, and high structure stability at high temperatures still remain a challenge. Herein, we report a simple and controllable preparation of a novel type of free-standing 3D confined polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal particles (PSCLCPs) based on the microfluidic emulsification, interfacial polymerization, and UV curing. The size of PSCLCPs can be precisely controlled by adjusting the flow rates of the injected fluids in a microfluidic chip. The fluidity of CLCs is effectively restricted within the physical confinement of the polymer layer, the PSCLCPs present reversible thermal response between the cholesteric phase and the isotropic phase. The CLC domains in microcapsules possess superior microstructure stability at high temperatures (near 220 °C). The stand-alone PSCLCPs with confined fluidity, stimuli response and high structure stability at high temperatures will provide ever better performances in their tremendous applications in the field of smart photonic and electro-optical devices.