Two novel enantiomeric chiral fluorescence photoswitches containing two chiroptical (S)-(−)- or (R)-(+)-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol covalently bonded to a central dicyanodistyrylbenzene unit are facilely synthesized and efficiently used to construct an optically tunable reflective-photoluminescent cholesteric liquid crystal (LC) device. In comparison with conventional azobenzene-based devices, this new class of chiral photoswitches is found to undergo unprecedented irreversible Z/E photoisomerization in both organic solvent and LC media upon irradiation of 365 nm ultraviolet (UV) light. The isomers on the photostationary state and even the intermediate states after Z/E photoisomerization do not exhibit thermal relaxation behavior and thus are stable in a dark environment. The photo-induced Z/E photoisomerization leads to a large change in the helical twisted power of the chiral switches, enabling a reflection spectral shift of more than 1500 nm in the cholesteric LC. These structural modifications also produce a pronounced fluorescence spectral variation, which makes it possible to simultaneously phototune both the reflection and the fluorescence in the cholesteric LC. We also present proof-of-principle demonstrations of the fact that the phototuning of the cholesteric LC based on the chiral fluorescence photoswitches can be used in irreversible UV light indicators and reflective–photoluminescent LC display devices.

We have developed a novel thermoresponsive photonic actuator based on three-dimensional SiO2 opal photonic crystals (PCs) together with liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). In the process of fabrication of such a photonic actuator, the LCE precursor is infiltrated into the SiO2 opal PC followed by UV light-induced photopolymerization, thereby forming the SiO2 opal PC/LCE composite film with a bilayer structure. We find that this bilayer composite film simultaneously exhibits actuation behavior as well as the photonic band gap (PBG) response to external temperature variation. When the SiO2 opal PC/LCE composite film is heated, it exhibits a considerable bending deformation, and its PBG shifts to a shorter wavelength at the same time. In addition, this actuation is quite fast, reversible, and highly repeatable. The thermoresponsive behavior of the SiO2 opal PC/LCE composite films mainly derives from the thermal-driven change of nematic order of the LCE layer which leads to the asymmetric shrinkage/expansion of the bilayer structure. These results will be of interest in designing optical actuator systems for environment-temperature detection.Keywords: bending deformation; liquid crystal elastomer; opal photonic crystal; photonic band gap; thermoresponsive photonic actuator

•Biocompatible polylactic acid (PLA) as graphene-transfer polymer didn’t need to be removed.•A sandwiched-structure transparent electrode was prepared by embedding PLA layer between graphene and AgNWs.•The transparent electrode exhibited outstanding chemical and electrical stability.•A pressure-sensitive liquid crystal device was fabricated based on flexible transparent electrodes.Strongly adhesive and highly stable transparent electrodes based on graphene and silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been developed by embedding biocompatible polylactic acid (PLA) between them. In the process of fabrication of such electrode, instead of removing the supporting PLA layer, this biocompatible polymer layer is sandwiched between graphene and AgNWs, thus simplifying the technology process. In comparison with the traditional graphene/AgNWs hybrid electrode, this novel hybrid electrode exhibits similar optical and electrical properties (around 84.0% at 550 nm, sheet resistance is 13.6 Ω/sq). Remarkably, the surface topography and mechanical flexibility of hybrid film is greatly enhanced due to the introduction of PLA layer. In addition to these, the PLA layer could also provide extra protection to AgNWs locating at the bottom as well as enhanced adhesion force to the substrate, thereby yielding outstanding chemical and electrical stability of the hybrid film. To demonstrate the potential application of the hybrid electrode, a pressure-addressing/electric-erasing liquid crystal device has been constructed, which shows a comfortable optical-electric performance. The strategy demonstrated here could contribute to strong adhesive and highly stable transparent electrodes in flexible optoelectronic devices.A new strategy has been demonstrated to be capable of optimizing the graphene-AgNWs hybrid electrode by embedding a biocompatible polymer PLA and this hybrid electrode for the application of pressure-sensitive LC device has also been described.

A new type of highly stable, transparent and flexible hybrid electrode has been developed by integrating the encapsulation of a silver nanowires (AgNWs) network by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a single-layer graphene on a flexible substrate. Compared with commercial indium tin oxide (ITO) film and pristine AgNWs–graphene hybrid film, this hybrid electrode formulation was found to exhibit excellent optical and electrical properties (84.0% at 550 nm RS = 14.1 Ω □−1). Moreover, the PVA encapsulated-AgNWs–graphene hybrid electrode on a flexible substrate shows superior mechanical flexibility, reliability and long-term stability due to the multi-functional effects of PVA as the encapsulation layer. Finally, we employ this hybrid electrode to construct a flexible cholesteric liquid crystals (Ch-LCs) device, where the PVA layer in hybrid formation could be used as the orientation layer. This Ch-LCs device exhibits an impressive electrical–optical performance, demonstrating its potential as a transparent and stretchable electrode platform for flexible optoelectronics.

We develop two novel bent- and dendritic-like polyoxometalate (POM) organic–inorganic hybrids with covalently grafted azobenzene mesogenic moieties for stabilization and optical switching of BPs. The bent-like POM hybrid is found to be greatly effective for the stabilization of BP I, in which the widest BP I temperature ranges could reach 20.5 °C. Moreover, what surprises us is that, the dendritic-like POM hybrid could help to stabilize BP II. The related physical mechanisms of the BP stabilization are discussed on the basis of the elastic characteristics and orientational order of LC molecules. Additionally, the wide optical tuning of the Bragg reflection band of BP II is demonstrated, in which the shift of the Bragg reflection wavelength is around 80 nm. This work opens up a new way for developing the BP systems that exhibit wide temperature ranges and good switching effects by optical fields, leading to potential applications in display fields as well as optoelectronic devices.

We have developed a bio-inspired thermal-responsive micropatterned inverse opal film with dual structural colors based on liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). Herein, inverse opal films are fabricated by infiltrating the LC precursor into silica opal photonic crystal templates followed by UV irradiation and then removing the silica spheres. Furthermore, the micropatterned inverse opal films with dual structural colors have been fabricated by a two-step photo-polymerization technique combining a DC electric field. The DC electric field is used to tune the lattice space of the silica opal templates at the second photo-polymerization stage. In addition, the photonic band gaps of the LCE inverse opal films with dual structural colors can be reversibly switched by temperature because of the thermally induced molecular orientation change of the LCEs. This approach to create bi-colored inverse opals with micropatterns opens up a new way to the development of display and photonic applications.

A novel series of photoresponsive chiral switches are fabricated by a facile hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) assembly method, in which the binaphthyl azobenzene molecule is used as the proton acceptor, and binaphthyl acids with opposite chiral configuration are proton donors. We find that the helical twisted power of H-bonded chiral switches and the helical handedness of induced chiral nematic liquid crystals (N*-LCs) are mainly determined by the terminal flexible chain length in proton donors of binaphthyl acids. Controlling the lengths of the terminal flexible chain leads to different photoswitching behaviors by light irradiation, such as a helical inversion in the N*-LCs and a phase transition from N*-LCs to nematic LCs. This is mainly because of chiral counteraction and intensity attenuation of opposite chiral configurations between the proton acceptor and proton donor during UV-vis irradiation. Additionally, the thermal switching behavior of N*-LCs doped with H-bonded chiral switches is also demonstrated, and the related tuning mechanism may be attributed to the H-bonded effect and the changes in a dihedral angle of the binaphthyl rings. This facile assembly approach provides a new way for the fabrication of functional chiral switches for photonic applications.

In this study, new kinds of hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) chiral molecular switches (CMS) composed of azobenzene moieties as photo-responsive parts and H-bonded complexes as thermo-responsive parts were developed. Photo- and thermally-reversible switching behavior of cholesteric liquid crystals (Ch-LCs) based on the H-bonded CMS was investigated in detail. The results demonstrate that H-bonded CMS undergo a trans–cis photoisomerization under UV light, which results in the decrease of helical twisting power (HTP). Meanwhile, the modulation of the intermolecular forces between proton donors and acceptors with temperature has a positive influence on the change in HTP. Reversible blue, green, and red reflections of the self-organized helical superstructure could be achieved under UV/Vis light as well as with temperature change. According to the geometry optimization based on Gaussian 03 calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level, the molecular aspect ratio could be considered to be one of the important factors influencing the HTP of H-bonded CMS. This dynamic tuning of the self-organized helical superstructure based on dual and selective molecular mechanism opens up a way to achieve new kinds of LC photonic materials.

In this study, we report a new kind of chiral hybrid material which was prepared through three-dimensional (3D) assembly of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) into a 3D blue-phase (BP) polymer nanostructure template by in situ reduction of silver nitrate. A feature signal at plasmonic wavelengths of Ag NPs could be found in the circular dichroism spectra after assembly of Ag NPs within the 3D BP template due to the localized surface plasmon resonance of Ag NPs. Additionally, the chiral hybrid material not only shows a sensitive response to different amounts of Ag NPs but also exhibits pronounced sensitivity to different surrounding dielectric environments. These kinds of chiroptical hybrid materials can be valuable in a wide range of applications such as refractive sensing, protein inspection and other biomedical fields.

We develop a new kind of bent-shaped hydrogen-bonded assemblies (H-bonded assemblies) to stabilize liquid crystal blue phases (LC-BPs) and optically switch the Bragg reflection band of BPs. Here the H-bonded assemblies are simply assembled with the proton acceptor containing azobenzene mesomorphic group and diacid proton donors. The BPs temperature ranges of the LC samples are significantly widened by H-bonded assembly dopants, and the widest BP temperature range is 16.7 °C. Moreover, the lower temperature of BPs is very close to room temperature. Additionally, a blue-shift of the Bragg reflection bands with the corresponding reflection color from green to blue is observed in the LC sample doped with H-bonded assemblies upon UV light irradiation. The related physics mechanisms for the stabilization and optical switching of BPs may be contributing to the bent-shaped molecular geometry of H-bonded assemblies and photoisomerization of azobenzene moiety in H-bonded assemblies, respectively. This work opens up a way to design self-organized molecules suitable for optically tuning BP display and other photonic devices.

A new kind of blue phase (BP) liquid crystal (LC) films has been developed which could reflect both right- and left-circularly polarized light. Here a free-standing, three dimensional (3D) BP polymer template with around 2/3 the cell thickness was first fabricated by non-uniform photopolymerization of a LC mixture at BP I temperature induced by an ultraviolet light absorbing dye, in which the non-reactive components were removed to achieve a porous polymer template with a right-handed (RH) structure, retaining the 3D structure of BP I. By refilling photoresponsive and left-handed (LH) helical structure BP-LCs containing a chiral azobenzene switch into the polymer template, we finally obtain a BP-LC film with a segregation of RH and LH domains across the LC film, thereby reflecting both right- and left-circularly polarized light. Photo- and thermal switching characteristics of this BP film were investigated in detail. These special optical properties make this kind of BP-LC film interesting for great potential applications in many fields such as flexible LC displays, optical components, LC lasing, etc.

A novel class of hydrogen-bonded chiral azobenzene switches was developed to induce an optically tunable liquid crystal blue phases (LC-BPs), which leads to the stabilization of the LC-BPs for a wider temperature range and is capable of a reversible phototuning of the reflection color of BP I over the visible wavelength region.

In this study, we developed a new kind of functional photoresist based on octamethacrylated polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (MAPOSS) and fluorinated monomer as an ideal material for ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL). We first optimized the synthesis of MAPOSS using the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of methacryloyl oxygen propyl trimethoxysilane. The hybrid photoresist formulations with MAPOSS and fluorinated additive were found to be effective materials for high-performance UV-NIL, which exhibited a preferable curing rate, Young's modulus and thermal stability. Additionally, the low shrinkage and low surface energy of the curing film allows for easier transfer of relief features with excellent imprint reliability for UV-based NIL techniques. These characteristics of fluorinated silsesquioxane-based photoresists make them suitable as inexpensive and convenient components in UV-NIL processes.

In this study, we present several simple but effective methods to stabilize blue phases (BPs) and investigate their possible stabilization mechanisms. An achiral mesogen monomer with a branched end group (MF-LCM) and chiral hydrogen-bonded assemblies (CHBAs) were prepared and were applied to extend the BP temperature range of a simple cyanobiphenyl compound (8CB). Increasing the achiral mesogen monomer content results in a widened BP range, which is could be due to molecular shape of the achiral MF-LCM and their interactions with the bulk Ch-LCs molecules. Meanwhile, the result demonstrates that CHBAs also have a positive influence on broadening the BP temperature range, this expansion of the BP temperature range was induced by the chiral effect and viscosity effect. Taking these two factors into account, the widest BP temperature range in the LC sample with MF-LCM and CHBAs was 13.0 °C during the cooling process. Furthermore, LC mixtures with MF-LCM and di-functional liquid crystalline monomer (C6M) were irradiated by UV light to induce polymerization. The BP temperature range was broadened obviously, and the widest BP range has been extended even up to about 41.0 °C, which results from the traditional polymer stabilization mechanism and BP polymer templating effect. These explorations provide some useful insight into the molecular design, chiral effect and polymer network towards stabilizing BP.

The stabilization of liquid crystalline blue phases (BPs) from novel hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) bent-shaped and T-shaped assemblies (HBAs) has been described for the first time in this study. Different kinds of H-bonded bent-shaped and T-shaped molecules were assembled, and then used to broaden the BP temperature range of liquid crystal (LC) samples. The results demonstrate that the temperature range of BPs is significantly influenced by HBA dopants, in which the widest BP temperature range was 15.1 °C. Moreover, the lower temperature of BPs is very close to room temperature, which is of benefit to the application of BPs in LC displays. Additionally, according to the experimental analysis and molecular simulations, the physical mechanism of the BP stabilization by bent-shaped and T-shaped molecules is mainly related to the molecular geometry and is not dependent on the LC phase. This study has developed a new and facile strategy to widen the BP temperature range from the aspect of the molecular design.

We present a pressure-sensitive polymer dispersed cholesteric liquid crystal (PDCLC) device, in which a cholesteric liquid crystal (ChLC) is encapsulated by a polymer network via an ultraviolet photopolymerization induced phase separation method. The effects of the acrylate monomer concentration and functionality on the network morphology, and the electro-optic behaviour of the PDCLC device were studied. The results demonstrated that the electro-optic properties, including reflectivity and the contrast ratio of the pressure-sensitive device, were improved as the ChLC droplet size increased. An appropriate network density in the system limited the flow of the ChLC and allowed high-resolution lines to be drawn on the device. Additionally, the critical pressure switching of the device from a focal conic state to a planar state was investigated. The device developed in this study has promising applications in many fields such as flexible display devices and optical sensors.

In this study, we demonstrate a simple and effective method for the microcapsulation of cholesteric liquid crystals (Ch-LCs) by using interfacial polymerization. Herein, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and water were used to form a thin polyurea shell of microcapsulates, and different kind of Ch-LCs materials with left-handed or right-handed helical structure were utilized as core materials, the factors influencing the morphology of Ch-LCs microcapsule such as weight ratio of Ch-LCs/polyurea, emulsification rate, agitation rate and emulsifier content were investigated in detail. Meanwhile, Ch-LCs films based on microcapsules and polymer binder exhibit distinct optical characteristics, thermal tuning of red-green-blue reflection in a Ch-LC film can be achieved, in which the core material of cholesteryl LCs mixture has a great temperature-dependence of pitch length. And Ch-LCs film with a double-handed circularly polarized light reflection band and their temperature switching was also demonstrated. These special optical properties make the novel Ch-LCs microcapsules interesting for potential application in many fields such as information recording, optical components, flat displays, photonic materials etc.

In this study, a novel H-bonded cholesteric polymer film responding to temperature and pH by changing the reflection color was fabricated. The H-bonded cholesteric polymer film was achieved by UV-photopolymerizing a cholesteric liquid crystal (Ch-LC) monomers mixture containing a photopolymerizable chiral H-bonded assembly (PCHA). The cholesteric polymer film based on PCHA can be thermally switched to reflect red color from the initial green/yellow color as temperature is increased, which is due to a change in helical pitch induced by the weakening of H-bonded interaction in the polymer film. Additionally, the selective reflection band (SRB) of the cholesteric polymer film in solution with pH > 7 showed an obvious red shift with increasing pH values. While the SRB of the cholesteric polymer film in solutions with pH = 7 and pH < 7 hardly changed. This pH sensitivity in solutions with pH > 7 could be explained by the breakage of H-bonds in the cholesteric polymer film and the structure changes induced by −OH− and −K+ ions in the alkaline solution. In contrast, it couldn’t happen in the neutral and acidic solutions. The cholesteric polymer film in this study can be used as optical/photonic papers, optical sensors and LCs displays, etc.

In this study, novel photopolymerizable chiral hydrogen-bonded self-assembled complexes (PCHSCs) were fabricated, which were derived from photopolymerizable 4-(6-acryloyloxyhexyloxy) benzoic acid (AHBA, proton donor) and chiral pyridine derivatives (proton acceptor). Their structures were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectoscopy. The thermal stability, phase behaviors and helical twisted power (HTP) characteristics of the PCHSC were investigated by measuring the variable-temperature FT-IR spectrum, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and the Cano wedge. The results demonstrate that all the PCHSCs have good thermal stability within a temperature range, and the pitch length of all the cells containing the PCHSCs increases with increasing temperature, which is due to the fact that the HTP values of all the PCHSCs decrease with an increase of temperature. What's more, the introduction of AHBA leads to chiral enhancement of the PCHSCs. Based on the above results, a polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) composite with the above PCHSCs was prepared and the thermal-optical characteristics of the PSCLCs film were investigated. The results confirm that the reflective wavelength of the PSCLCs film before and after irradiation can be thermally switched to reflect green and red color from the initial state reflecting a blue/green color with the temperature increasing from 30 °C to 75 °C. On the basis of this mechanism, the novel material in this study can be used as optical/photonic paper, optical sensors and LCs displays, etc.

We have developed a cellulose nanocrystal-based nanocomposite photonic film with a sandwich structure to mimic the shell structure of the Chrysina genus of beetles. The nanocomposite film was fabricated by embedding a uniaxially oriented polyamide-6 (PA-6) layer as a half-wave retarder layer between two cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs)/polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) layers with a left-handed chiral nematic photonic structure. As a result, the reflectance intensity of the obtained nanocomposite film exceeds 50% (hyper-reflection) at a certain wavelength. More interestingly, asymmetric expansion/shrinkage of the CNCs/PEGDA layer in the nanocomposite film allows for simultaneous and reversible three-dimensional deformation behavior as well as the shift of the Bragg reflection when exposed to a humid environment. The proposed self-assembled photonic material will be attractive to be used as an optical anti-counterfeiting film, a tunable bandpass filter, a reflector or polarizer and a humidity-responsive actuator.

We develop two novel bent- and dendritic-like polyoxometalate (POM) organic–inorganic hybrids with covalently grafted azobenzene mesogenic moieties for stabilization and optical switching of BPs. The bent-like POM hybrid is found to be greatly effective for the stabilization of BP I, in which the widest BP I temperature ranges could reach 20.5 °C. Moreover, what surprises us is that, the dendritic-like POM hybrid could help to stabilize BP II. The related physical mechanisms of the BP stabilization are discussed on the basis of the elastic characteristics and orientational order of LC molecules. Additionally, the wide optical tuning of the Bragg reflection band of BP II is demonstrated, in which the shift of the Bragg reflection wavelength is around 80 nm. This work opens up a new way for developing the BP systems that exhibit wide temperature ranges and good switching effects by optical fields, leading to potential applications in display fields as well as optoelectronic devices.

We have developed a bio-inspired thermal-responsive micropatterned inverse opal film with dual structural colors based on liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). Herein, inverse opal films are fabricated by infiltrating the LC precursor into silica opal photonic crystal templates followed by UV irradiation and then removing the silica spheres. Furthermore, the micropatterned inverse opal films with dual structural colors have been fabricated by a two-step photo-polymerization technique combining a DC electric field. The DC electric field is used to tune the lattice space of the silica opal templates at the second photo-polymerization stage. In addition, the photonic band gaps of the LCE inverse opal films with dual structural colors can be reversibly switched by temperature because of the thermally induced molecular orientation change of the LCEs. This approach to create bi-colored inverse opals with micropatterns opens up a new way to the development of display and photonic applications.

A new type of highly stable, transparent and flexible hybrid electrode has been developed by integrating the encapsulation of a silver nanowires (AgNWs) network by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a single-layer graphene on a flexible substrate. Compared with commercial indium tin oxide (ITO) film and pristine AgNWs–graphene hybrid film, this hybrid electrode formulation was found to exhibit excellent optical and electrical properties (84.0% at 550 nm RS = 14.1 Ω □−1). Moreover, the PVA encapsulated-AgNWs–graphene hybrid electrode on a flexible substrate shows superior mechanical flexibility, reliability and long-term stability due to the multi-functional effects of PVA as the encapsulation layer. Finally, we employ this hybrid electrode to construct a flexible cholesteric liquid crystals (Ch-LCs) device, where the PVA layer in hybrid formation could be used as the orientation layer. This Ch-LCs device exhibits an impressive electrical–optical performance, demonstrating its potential as a transparent and stretchable electrode platform for flexible optoelectronics.

A new kind of blue phase (BP) liquid crystal (LC) films has been developed which could reflect both right- and left-circularly polarized light. Here a free-standing, three dimensional (3D) BP polymer template with around 2/3 the cell thickness was first fabricated by non-uniform photopolymerization of a LC mixture at BP I temperature induced by an ultraviolet light absorbing dye, in which the non-reactive components were removed to achieve a porous polymer template with a right-handed (RH) structure, retaining the 3D structure of BP I. By refilling photoresponsive and left-handed (LH) helical structure BP-LCs containing a chiral azobenzene switch into the polymer template, we finally obtain a BP-LC film with a segregation of RH and LH domains across the LC film, thereby reflecting both right- and left-circularly polarized light. Photo- and thermal switching characteristics of this BP film were investigated in detail. These special optical properties make this kind of BP-LC film interesting for great potential applications in many fields such as flexible LC displays, optical components, LC lasing, etc.

In this study, we present several simple but effective methods to stabilize blue phases (BPs) and investigate their possible stabilization mechanisms. An achiral mesogen monomer with a branched end group (MF-LCM) and chiral hydrogen-bonded assemblies (CHBAs) were prepared and were applied to extend the BP temperature range of a simple cyanobiphenyl compound (8CB). Increasing the achiral mesogen monomer content results in a widened BP range, which is could be due to molecular shape of the achiral MF-LCM and their interactions with the bulk Ch-LCs molecules. Meanwhile, the result demonstrates that CHBAs also have a positive influence on broadening the BP temperature range, this expansion of the BP temperature range was induced by the chiral effect and viscosity effect. Taking these two factors into account, the widest BP temperature range in the LC sample with MF-LCM and CHBAs was 13.0 °C during the cooling process. Furthermore, LC mixtures with MF-LCM and di-functional liquid crystalline monomer (C6M) were irradiated by UV light to induce polymerization. The BP temperature range was broadened obviously, and the widest BP range has been extended even up to about 41.0 °C, which results from the traditional polymer stabilization mechanism and BP polymer templating effect. These explorations provide some useful insight into the molecular design, chiral effect and polymer network towards stabilizing BP.

In this study, novel photopolymerizable chiral hydrogen-bonded self-assembled complexes (PCHSCs) were fabricated, which were derived from photopolymerizable 4-(6-acryloyloxyhexyloxy) benzoic acid (AHBA, proton donor) and chiral pyridine derivatives (proton acceptor). Their structures were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectoscopy. The thermal stability, phase behaviors and helical twisted power (HTP) characteristics of the PCHSC were investigated by measuring the variable-temperature FT-IR spectrum, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and the Cano wedge. The results demonstrate that all the PCHSCs have good thermal stability within a temperature range, and the pitch length of all the cells containing the PCHSCs increases with increasing temperature, which is due to the fact that the HTP values of all the PCHSCs decrease with an increase of temperature. What's more, the introduction of AHBA leads to chiral enhancement of the PCHSCs. Based on the above results, a polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) composite with the above PCHSCs was prepared and the thermal-optical characteristics of the PSCLCs film were investigated. The results confirm that the reflective wavelength of the PSCLCs film before and after irradiation can be thermally switched to reflect green and red color from the initial state reflecting a blue/green color with the temperature increasing from 30 °C to 75 °C. On the basis of this mechanism, the novel material in this study can be used as optical/photonic paper, optical sensors and LCs displays, etc.