low-molecular-weight nematic LC (5CB) was heated up to its isotropic phase,
leading to the response to visible light. The photoresponsive behavior is shown in
Fig. 18 (Yu et al. 2014; Yu and Yu 2015).
Except for GO, several other nanomaterials with photothermal effect has been
used in light-responsive systems, including CNTs (Xie et al. 2012), graphene oxide,
graphene, and gold nanoparticles (Chen et al. 2013). CNTs has been chosen in
Stretching
Visible Light
1
2
3
1
2
GO/ 5CB/ PVA Nanocomposite Films
Liquid Crystal Domain
3
5CB
Temperature
Low
High
Visible light
b
a
c
Fig. 18 Visible light-responsive behavior of the stretched PDLC/GO nanocomposites and the
mechanism of the photothermal effect. (Reproduced with permission from Yu et al. (2014),
copyright, Royal Society of Chemistry)
15 Photoresponsive Liquid Crystalline Polymers
437