The present invention comprises the steps of contacting a boron nitride nanotube and a stabilizer in a solvent, and removing a portion of the solvent to obtain a liquid crystal composition including a liquid crystal in which at least a portion of the stabilizer is adsorbed on the surface of the boron nitride nanotube.

Provided are a liquid crystal composition, a liquid crystal cured layer, an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device, each of which suppresses streak defects and has excellent temporal stability. The liquid crystal composition includes a liquid crystal compound and a basic compound, in which a pKa of a conjugate acid of the basic compound is 4 to 10.

A liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of the formulae IA to IH,

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in which Z.sup.1 denotes a single bond, —CH.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH═CH—, —CH.sub.2O—, —OCH.sub.2—, —CF.sub.2O—, —OCF.sub.2—, —COO—, —OCO—, —C.sub.2F.sub.4—, —(CH.sub.2).sub.4—, —CHFCHF—, —CF.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2—, —C≡C—, —CF═CF—, —CH═CHCHO— or —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2O—,
and the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, SA-VA, PS-IPS or IPS effect.

Provided is a low-cost image display apparatus that has asymmetry in the display characteristics in the right-to-left direction, displays a clear image to the driver, exhibits an appropriate viewing angle control function that reduces reflected glare on the window glass, and is thinly made While causing no moire, and there are also provided an information display system for a vehicle, and an optical film. The image display apparatus includes a viewing-side polarizing plate, a liquid crystal cell, a backlight-side polarizing plate, an optical film, and a backlight in this order, in which the optical film includes an optically anisotropic layer and a polarizer in this order from the liquid crystal cell side, the absorption axis of the backlight-side polarizing plate and the absorption axis of the polarizer are parallel or orthogonal to each other, the optically anisotropic layer is optically uniaxially anisotropic, while in a case where the optic axis of the optically anisotropic layer is projected onto the polarizer as viewed from the viewing-side of the image display apparatus, the azimuthal angle of the optic axis is +50° to +70° or −50° to −70° with respect to the horizontal direction, the average tilt angle of the optic axis with respect to the main surface of the optically anisotropic layer is 20° to 45°, and the in-plane phase difference Re (550) of the optically anisotropic layer is 70 nm to 240 nm.

The present invention relates to a liquid-crystal (LC) medium comprising polymerizable compounds, to its use for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, especially in LC displays of the PSA (polymer sustained alignment) or SA (self-aligning) mode, to an LC display of the PSA or SA mode comprising the LC medium, and to a process of manufacturing the LC display.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition capable of forming an optically anisotropic layer with suppressed cissing during formation of an optically anisotropic layer and an excellent alignment degree, a fluorine-containing polymer, an optically anisotropic layer, a laminate, and an image display device. The liquid crystal composition of the present invention is a liquid crystal composition including a liquid crystal compound and an interface improver, in which the interface improver is a fluorine-containing polymer having a repeating unit B1 represented by Formula (B-1) and a repeating unit B2 having a fluorine atom.

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Provided are a decorative film including a base material and a reflective layer having a convex structure, in which, in a cross section obtained by cutting the convex structure in a direction perpendicular to a plane direction of the decorative film, in a case where a direction in which an average Φ.sub.AVE of positive tilt angles is a largest is defined as a first direction and a direction in which the average Φ.sub.AVE of the positive tilt angles is a smallest is defined as a second direction, the decorative film has a region A in which Φ.sub.AVE in the first direction is 3° or more and Φ.sub.AVE in the second direction is less than 3°; and applications thereof.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition suitable for producing liquid crystal display elements which reduces the risk of the formation of droplet traces during production and allows a liquid crystal material to be ejected at a constant rate during an ODF process without deteriorating the properties of the liquid crystal display element, such as dielectric anisotropy, viscosity, nematic-phase upper-limit temperature, nematic-phase stability at a low temperature, and γ.sub.1, and the image sticking resistance of the display element, and a liquid crystal display element including the liquid crystal composition. Provided are a liquid crystal composition having a negative dielectric anisotropy, the liquid crystal composition including one or more compounds represented by General Formula (I), one or more compounds represented by General Formula (II), and the compound represented by Formula (IIIb-1) and a liquid crystal display element including the liquid crystal composition.

A transfer film in an image display apparatus includes a temporary support including a substrate and an optically anisotropic layer, in which an in-plane retardation of the substrate at a wavelength of 550 nm is 0 to 20 nm, the optically anisotropic layer is formed of a liquid crystal compound, and where the optically anisotropic layer obtained by peeling the temporary support from the transfer film is allowed to stand in a predetermined environment, and then a maximum value of a dimensional change rate in an in-plane direction of the optically anisotropic layer is defined as ΔL (max) and a minimum value of the dimensional change rate is defined as ΔL (min), the transfer film satisfies at least one of Expression (1) ΔL (max)/ΔL (min)≤1.5 or Expression (2) ΔL (max)≤0.08%.

A fluorine-containing polymer includes a repeating unit represented by General Formula (I). In General Formula (I), L.sub.1 represents a single bond or a divalent linking group, R.sub.1 represents a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, or an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and R.sub.2 represents a group including a fluorine atom

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