A liquid crystal cured layer formed of a cured product of a liquid crystal composition, wherein the liquid crystal composition contains a polymerizable liquid crystal compound having a reverse wavelength dispersion property, and a copolymer containing a monomer unit A including a monovalent group containing an aromatic ring and a monomer unit B containing a monovalent aliphatic hydrocarbon group optionally having a substituent, a main chain mesogen of the polymerizable liquid crystal compound in the liquid crystal cured layer is oriented at a tilt angle of 85 to 90 with respect to a layer plane of the liquid crystal cured layer.

An ionic liquid crystal elastomer composition includes a liquid crystal elastomer; and an ionic liquid.

The invention provides a self-oriented material, a self-oriented liquid crystal material and a manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel. The self-oriented material provided by the invention can be used for carrying out alignment on liquid crystal molecules, and a polyimide alignment layer is not required to be arranged in the liquid crystal panel when the self-oriented material is added into the liquid crystal material. The self-oriented liquid crystal material disclosed by the invention contains the self-oriented material, the self-oriented material can be used for carrying out alignment on liquid crystal molecules, therefore a polyimide alignment layer is not required to be arranged in the liquid crystal panel. According to the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is realized by utilizing the self-oriented material in the self-oriented liquid crystal material, and the polyimide alignment layer does not need to be manufactured, so that the process for manufacturing the polyimide alignment layer is saved, and the production cost is reduced.

The present invention provides a compound by which high refractive index anisotropy n and inhibition of colorability can be compatible. The present invention further provides a composition including the above-mentioned compound, a cured object, an optically anisotropic body, and a reflective film. The compound of the present invention is represented by General Formula (1).

##STR00001##

Provided is a laminate, which has a polarizer and an optically anisotropic layer and is excellent in thermal durability, and an organic electroluminescent device and a liquid crystal display device, which include the laminate. The laminate has two substrates and a polarizing plate disposed between the two substrates, in which the polarizing plate has a polarizer and an optically anisotropic layer, the polarizer contains a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, the optically anisotropic layer is formed of a composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound represented by General Formula (I): L.sub.1-G.sub.1-D.sub.1-Ar-D.sub.2-G.sub.2-L.sub.2, a moisture permeability of the substrate is 10.sup.3 g/m.sup.2.Math.day or less, and a water content of the polarizing plate is 3.0 g/m.sup.2 or less.

A laminate is provided having excellent adhesiveness between a light absorption anisotropic film and a barrier layer, a manufacturing method of the laminate, and an image display device using the laminate. A laminate having: a barrier layer A; and a light absorption anisotropic film B, in which the barrier layer A is adjacently provided on the light absorption anisotropic film B, a relationship between a highest content of a compound A1 contained in the barrier layer A and a highest content of a compound B1 contained in the light absorption anisotropic film B satisfies a relationship in which a value of distance calculated from Hansen solubility parameters and represented by Formula (I) is within a range of 0.0 to 5.0, and the light absorption anisotropic film B contains a component same as the compound A1.

distance={4(.sub.D(B1).sub.D(A1)).sup.2+(.sub.P(B1).sub.P(A1)).sup.2+(.sub.H(B1).sub.H(A1)).sup.2}.sup.0.5(I)

A side chain type polymer liquid crystalline compound with which a light absorption anisotropic film having a high alignment degree can be formed, which includes a liquid crystalline composition, a light absorption anisotropic film which is formed of the liquid crystalline composition, a laminate, and an image display device. A liquid crystalline composition contains a side chain type polymer liquid crystalline compound and a dichroic substance, the side chain type polymer liquid crystalline compound is a copolymer having repeating units 1 and 2, the repeating unit 1 has a mesogenic group and an electron-withdrawing group having a Hammett's substituent constant p of greater than 0 at a terminal of the mesogenic group, and the repeating unit 2 has a mesogenic group and a group having a Hammett's substituent constant p of 0 or less at a terminal of the mesogenic group.

The present invention provides a polymerizable compound with a structure of general formula I, which exhibits none or few of the problems existing in the prior art. A polymerizable liquid crystal composition comprising the polymerizable compound has good stability and higher reliability, and is embodied by having a smaller pretilt angle change and higher voltage holding ratio. Also, there is little or no image sticking effect in a liquid crystal display device comprising the polymerizable liquid crystal composition. The present invention also provides a method of synthesizing a polymerizable compound with a structure of general formula I. The present invention further provides a polymerizable liquid crystal composition comprising the polymerizable compound and a liquid crystal display device comprising the polymerizable liquid crystal composition.

##STR00001##

A water-responsive interpenetrating polymer network, a preparation method and use thereof, are disclosed in the present disclosure. The water-responsive interpenetrating polymer network comprises an interpenetrating polymer network formed by a cholesteric liquid crystal polymer and a polyionic liquid; wherein the cholesteric liquid crystal polymer is formed by polymerization of a liquid crystal mixture; and the polyionic liquid contains a hydrophilic group or is a hydrophilic salt. The interpenetrating polymer network of the present disclosure is water responsive without needs of activation with an alkaline solution, which simplifies the preparation process, and it has stable water responsiveness performance after prolonged and/or repeated exposure to water. The water-responsive interpenetrating polymer network of the present disclosure can be used to prepare light reflective coatings and reflective devices, and has higher commercial value.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide: elements, in particular, a display element and an optical element, which are obtained by controlling orientation of liquid crystals in a liquid crystal bulk without using a liquid crystal orientation film; and/or a photoreactive liquid crystal composition for manufacturing the elements. The present invention provides: a photoreactive liquid crystal composition comprising (A) a photoreactive polymer liquid crystal which includes a photoreactive side chain in which at least one type of reaction selected from the group consisting of (A-1) photocrosslinking and (A-2) photoisomerization occurs, and (B) a low molecular weight liquid crystal; and an optical element or display element which is formed having a liquid crystal cell including the composition.