Preparation and applications of the epoxy resin-based polymer- stabilised cholesteric liquid crystal films with microcracks at the surface

Polymer-stabilised cholesteric liquid crystal (PSCLC) films attracted much attention in decoration and anti-counterfeiting. Herein, the PSCLC films were prepared using the mixtures of epoxy monomers through cationic photopolymerisation. The structural colour was tunable by changing the concentration of chiral dopant in the reaction mixture and polymerisation temperature. Due to polymerisation shrinkage, microcracks were formed at the surfaces of the PSCLC films, which originated from the oily streak defects of the CLC mixtures. Colourful patterns were prepared by controlling the polymerisation temperature. In addition, since light can leak out through the microcracks, the tetraphenylethylene-doped patterns can be applied in anti-counterfeiting.