Temperature controllable liquid crystal window shutter

This paper proposes a temperature-controlled liquid crystal (LC) window shutter using electrical current driving to solve the problem of the high driving voltage of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), one of the typical electric field-controlled liquid crystal window shutters. This study is characterized by matching the refractive index of the polymer to that of the LC in the isotropic temperature of the LC, unlike the conventional PDLC matching the refractive index of the polymer to the ordinary refractive index of LC. The haze of the proposed device manufactured from UV curable polymers, which was consistent with the refractive index in the isotropic state of E7 LC, changes continuously with temperature. Under the optimal LC droplet conditions, the haze at the initial room temperature was a high foggy state at approximately 90.51%, and the haze at the isotropic state (58 °C) was 3.86% in both the normal and side views, showing better optical characteristics than the conventional PDLC, which has a slightly hazy state in the side view. Therefore, this can be applied as a smart window device in the future.