Conductivity and dielectric properties of cholesteric liquid crystal doped with single wall carbon nanotube

In this work, we have studied the conductivity (sigma) and dielectric anisotropy (Delta epsilon) change in cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) system doped with single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT). Samples were investigated in frequency range 100 kHz to 10 MHz at various bias voltages by using dielectric spectroscopy technique. Pure CLC and SWCNT doped samples exhibit positive dielectric anisotropy as a function of the driving frequency in working range. Also critical frequency and relaxation times were determined for investigated samples. The results lead to the conclusion that the enhancement of the electrical conductivity and the change of the dielectric anisotropy in the SWCNT doped cell is mainly caused by the aligning effect of cholesteric liquid crystal system. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.