Effects of CuInS2 nanoparticles on the alignment control of liquid crystals

Liquid crystal-nanoparticle composite systems have attracted particular attention for both academic interests and applications in inducing macroscopic alignment, altering electro-optic response of the liquid crystal hosts, generating ordered, tunable soft metamaterials. Herein, synthesis two shapes CuInS2 nanoparticles, tremelliform-like frame-like CuInS2, their utilization producing uniform homeotropic alignment crystals are reported. Through exploring mechanism detail, structures nanoparticles were found to rely heavily on reaction solvents during growth process, which turn play a significant role anchor molecules. The achieved shows high thermal stability, owing outstanding stability nanoparticles. In addition, combining this feasible method with parallel-aligning technique, variable pretilt angles range ∼ 0.9° 7.2° could be continuously achieved.