Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.299, 337-342, 1997
Dielectric-Properties of Glass-Dispersed Liquid-Crystals
Liquid crystals can be dispersed in gel-glass silica matrices by sol-gel processes. The resulting gel-glass dispersed liquid crystals (GDLCs) are similar to polymer-dispersed liquid crystals; however, the use of an inorganic silica matrix yields a material with enhanced optical and mechanical properties. Dielectric properties of these materials are highly dependent on the manufacturing conditions. Impedance spectroscopy of the isolated silica matrix and the GDLC composite has been employed to characterize the system between 200 mHz and 8 MHz. The results have been compared to theoretical results based on several equivalent circuits.