Broadband Reflection in Polymer-Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals via Thiol-Acrylate Chemistry.

Thiols are prone to react with a multitude of various functional groups in high yields, which has been widely used for surface- and particle-patterning, bioorganic synthesis, polymer modification, imprint nanolithography, the fabrication of optical components, hydrogel synthesis, and the curing of hard protective coatings. In this work, a chiral thiol with a high helical twisting power was synthesized through a novel synthetic route with high selectivity, yield, and cost-effectiveness. It was then used to fabricate a liquid-crystal composite film with ultra-wide broadband reflection via thiol click chemistry. Cholesteric liquid-crystal materials with broadband reflection have many potential applications for broadband polarizers, polarizer-free displays, organic optical data storage media, smart switchable reflective windows, and continuous waveband laser protection.