The present invention provides a compound having an excellent rate of change in HTP due to exposure. The present invention further provides a composition formed of the compound, a cured product, an optically anisotropic body, and a reflective film.

The compound of the present invention is a compound represented by General Formula (1).

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An object of the present invention is to provide a compound which increases the intensity of HTP by exposure to irradiation with light such as ultraviolet rays, and a mixture including the compound. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition, a cured product, an optically anisotropic body, and a reflective film.

The compound of the present invention is represented by General Formula (1).

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Provided are a cholesteric liquid crystal layer having an excellent reflection anisotropy, a low haze, and a high circular polarization degree of reflected light, and a method for producing the same. In addition, provided are a laminate, an optically anisotropic body, and a reflective film, each of which including the cholesteric liquid crystal layer. A cholesteric liquid crystal layer formed using a liquid crystal compound, in which, in at least one main plane out of a pair of main planes of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer, a direction of a molecular axis of the liquid crystal compound changes while continually rotating along at least one in-plane direction, the molecular axis of the liquid crystal compound is tilted with respect to the main plane of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer, and an arrangement direction of bright portions and dark portions derived from the cholesteric liquid crystalline phase, as observed under a scanning electron microscope in a cross section perpendicular to the main plane, is tilted with respect to the main plane of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

Provided is a light absorption anisotropic film capable of suppressing reflection occurring between the light absorption anisotropic film and a layer disposed adjacent thereto, a laminate, and an image display device. The light absorption anisotropic film includes a dichroic substance, in which a polarization degree A measured by allowing polarized light to be incident from one surface of the light absorption anisotropic film is different from a polarization degree B measured by allowing polarized light to be incident from the other surface of the light absorption anisotropic film.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a cholesteric liquid crystal layer, which can produce a cholesteric liquid crystal layer whose reflection surface is not parallel to the substrate surface by a simple method. A second object of the present invention is to provide a cholesteric liquid crystal layer, and an optically anisotropic body and a reflective layer, each of which includes the cholesteric liquid crystal layer. A third object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition capable of forming the cholesteric liquid crystal layer. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a cured product, an optically anisotropic body, and a reflective layer, each of which is formed of the liquid crystal composition.

The method for producing a cholesteric liquid crystal layer of the present invention includes a step 1 of forming a composition layer satisfying the following condition 1, the following condition 2, or the following condition 3 on a substrate, using a liquid crystal composition including a liquid crystal compound; and a step 2 of subjecting the composition layer to a treatment for cholesterically aligning the liquid crystal compound in the composition layer to form a cholesteric liquid crystal layer.

Condition 1: at least a part of the liquid crystal compound in the composition layer is tilt-aligned with respect to a substrate surface

Condition 2: the liquid crystal compound is aligned such that a tilt angle of the liquid crystal compound in the composition layer continuously changes along a thickness direction;

Condition 3: at least a part of the liquid crystal compound in the composition layer is vertically aligned with respect to the substrate surface.

Disclosed is a polymerizable liquid crystal material wherein an amount of a salt represented by the following formula (I) is less than 0.01 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, and an amount of a nitrogen-containing compound represented by the following formula (II) is 0.01 parts by mass or less per 100 parts by mass of the polymerizable liquid crystal compound. 10 to R.sup.5 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a C1-C7 alkyl group, R.sup.6 and R.sup.7 represents a hydrogen atom, and X represents F.sup., Br.sup., Cl.sup., I.sup., HSO.sub.4.sup., 1/2(HPO.sub.4.sup.2), H.sub.2PO.sub.4.sup., RC(O)O.sup., 1/2(.sup.O(CO)R(CO)O.sup.) or RSO.sub.3.sup., where R represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group, and R represents a single bond or a divalent hydrocarbon group.

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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.

A liquid crystal composition including a polymerizable liquid crystal compound capable of expressing birefringence with reverse wavelength distribution and a surfactant containing a fluorine atom, a 1-octanol/water partition coefficient of the surfactant being less than 5.0.

An object of the present invention is to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal composition which has excellent coating properties, is capable of suppressing film thickness unevenness, and has good coating properties for an upper layer coating liquid after being formed as an optically anisotropic layer, an anisotropic layer formed using the same; an optical laminate; a method for producing an optical laminate, and an image display device. The polymerizable liquid crystal composition of the embodiment of the present invention is a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, a polymerization initiator, and a compound having a monovalent specific group including a cleavage group capable of decomposing by an action of at least one selected from the group consisting of light, heat, an acid, and a base to generate a polar group, in which the specific group has a fluorine atom or a silicon atom on a side closer to a terminal than the cleavage group.

An object of the present invention is to provide a photo-alignable polymer which has excellent coating properties, is capable of suppressing film thickness unevenness, and has excellent upper layer coating properties and good liquid crystal alignment properties after being formed as a layer; a binder composition; a binder layer; an optical laminate; a method for producing an optical laminate; and an image display device. The photo-alignable polymer of an embodiment of the present invention is a photo-alignable polymer having a repeating unit A including a cleavage group capable of decomposing by an action of at least one selected from the group consisting of light, heat, an acid, and a base to generate a polar group, in which the repeating unit A has the cleavage group in a side chain, has a fluorine atom or a silicon atom on a side closer to a terminal than the cleavage group in the side chain, and the photo-alignable polymer satisfies Condition 1 or Condition 2 shown below.

Condition 1: The photo-alignable polymer further has a repeating unit B including a photo-alignable group, in addition to the repeating unit A.

Condition 2: The repeating unit A includes a photo-alignable group on a side closer to the main chain than the cleavage group in the side chain.