Study of the relationship between haze performance and fractal dimension in micro-sized segregated liquid crystals embedded in a polymer matrix consisting of a thiol-ene prepolymer and a multi-functional acrylate

Micro-sized segregated liquid crystals (MSLCs) surrounded by a polymer medium can be used for haze film applications. When incident light passes through the MSLC film, the microsized particles act as light scattering centers. In this study, the results of the addition of a multi-functional acrylate to a commercial thiol-ene prepolymer system, as well as the morphology of (LC) droplets, fractal dimension (D), and the optical haze performance of the micro-sized segregated LCs formed by UV-initiated photopolymerization, are reported. With increasing fraction of the multi-functional acrylate within the host polymer matrix, the small scattering centers (LC droplets) also increase, giving rise to a large optical haze in the prepared film. The optical haze can be characterized by the D of the associated LC droplet morphology in the films. The optical haze and D exhibit a strong correlation; thus, a qualitative prediction of the optical haze is possible via geometric fractal analysis.