ABSTRACT To develop stable polymer films which had high orientational ordering of carbon nanotube for polarization-dependent light modulator, we present a new concept for electric-field induced alignment of mesogenic carbon nanotubes (m-CNTs) in reactive mesogen host (RMS) fixed by ultraviolet (UV) polymerization. Covalent modification of m-CNTs was performed using structure-tailored mesogenic units [4-(6-hydroxyhexanolxy)-4’-carbonitrile, PCNOH] in esterification reaction based on 100–500 nm long CNTs shortened by acid oxidation cutting, confirmed through 1H NMR, FT-IR, Raman and XPS spectroscopy. Dynamic orientation of m-CNTs in soft m-CNT/RMS composite without aggregates was observed on a large scale by polarized optical microscopy, in which m-CNTs aligns along the electric field direction. It was reasonable the mesogenic segments introduced onto m-CNTs weakened van der walls interactions between the nanotubes by increasing steric repulsion, and then effectively improved the favourable affinity of m-CNTs with RMS molecules. Direct UV-induced polymerization of RMS molecules stabilized the orientational ordering of m-CNTs confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, and the obtained film also exhibited anisotropic light absorption depending on the polarization direction of an incident light. The facile methodology described in this study to generate oriented films of m-CNTs-in-RMS broadened the scope of potential applications of modulator devices and versatile functional composites with anisotropic physical properties. Graphical illustration of a conceived light modulator utilizing m-CNT/RM.

中文翻译：

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用于光调制的碳纳米管和液晶聚合物的电场辅助单向混合膜

摘要 为了开发用于偏振相关光调制器的具有碳纳米管高取向排序的稳定聚合物薄膜，我们提出了一种新的概念，用于介晶碳纳米管 (m-CNTs) 在反应性介晶主体 (RMS) 中的电场诱导排列。紫外线 (UV) 聚合。m-CNTs 的共价改性是使用结构定制的介晶单元 [4-(6-羟基己醇氧基)-4'-腈，PCNOH] 在酯化反应中进行的，基于 100-500 nm 长的 CNTs 通过酸氧化切割缩短，通过 1H 确认NMR、FT-IR、拉曼和XPS光谱。通过偏光显微镜观察到 m-CNTs 在没有聚集体的软 m-CNT/RMS 复合材料中的动态取向，其中 m-CNTs 沿电场方向排列。引入到 m-CNTs 上的介晶片段通过增加空间排斥减弱了纳米管之间的范德壁相互作用，然后有效地提高了 m-CNTs 与 RMS 分子的有利亲和力是合理的。RMS 分子的直接紫外诱导聚合稳定了由拉曼光谱证实的 m-CNTs 的取向排序，并且所得薄膜还表现出取决于入射光偏振方向的各向异性光吸收。本研究中描述的用于生成 m-CNTs-in-RMS 定向薄膜的简便方法拓宽了调制器器件和具有各向异性物理特性的多功能功能复合材料的潜在应用范围。利用 m-CNT/RM 设计的光调制器的图示。