Preparation and Characterization of Liquid Crystal/Carbon Nanotube/Polyaniline Composites

Nowadays, the doping of liquid crystal (LC) materials with nanomaterials shows extraordinary potential to improve the electro-optical properties of liquid crystals. Among them, complexes of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polyaniline (PANI) doped in liquid crystals can fully utilize the synergistic effect of CNTs and PANI. In this paper, the capping of carbon nanotubes by polyaniline was realized by polymerization of aniline on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). Liquid crystal physical gels were prepared in liquid crystal 4-n-pentyl-4’-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) by using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a gelation factor, and carbon nanotube/polyaniline composites were doped in the process. The above composite liquid crystal physicogels were coated twice to achieve a uniform orientation of the LC molecules. When the doping amount of CNT/PANI was 1 wt%, the resistance of the oriented composite film was approximately 46,500 Ω lower compared with that of the liquid crystal hydrogel film. A new idea is provided for the application of liquid crystals in electrode preparation.