Colourful and photochromic patterned polymer-stabilised cholesteric liquid crystal film prepared using a side-chain cholesteric liquid crystal oligomer

Chiral oligomers with an enantiotropic cholesteric phase were synthesised using an isosorbide derivative with an acrylate group, and their molecular weights were controlled using a chain transfer agent. The thermostability of the cholesteric phase increases with increasing the molecular weight. Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) mixtures with the thermochromic property were prepared using oligomers. Then, polymer-stabilised CLC (PSCLC) films with a structural colour and colourful patterns were prepared by controlling the photopolymerisation temperature. A photochromic dye-doped PSCLC pattern was prepared, whose colours can be changed under the irradiation of the 365-nm UV light. The combination of structural colour and photochroism is attractive for the applications in the fields of decoration and anti-counterfeiting.