The present invention relates to design and applications of a class of water-soluble small molecules represented by Formula 1. In aqueous solutions the said molecules exhibit lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase transition near room temperature, imparting a temperature triggered switching of transparency stages. Further, it discloses a solution comprising Formula 1 and a scalable smart radiative energy management system that takes form of a dynamic window, wherein the aqueous solution is sandwiched between two transparent glass panes to enable modulation of light and heat transmission. With simple and economical starting materials, the dynamic windows of present invention represent leaps towards creating a niche technology with multifarious applications in developing scalable, smart energy management systems for indoor building environments.

The invention relates to a liquid-crystalline medium having negative dielectric anisotropy comprising one or more compounds of formula I ##STR00001##
and
one or more compounds selected from the group of the compounds of the formulae IIA, IIB and IIC, ##STR00002##
wherein the groups and parameters have the meanings indicated in claim 1, to a guest-host liquid crystal medium derived therefrom comprising one or more dichroic dyes and the use of said medium in devices such as light shutters, switchable windows, switchable mirrors and guest-host displays. The invention further relates to devices containing the liquid crystalline medium according to the invention.

This invention relates to optimisation of the temperature range of thermochromic liquid crystal materials and to related methods and devices for temperature monitoring and measurement. The invention also relates to methods and devices for the improved registering of objects in contact with thermochromic liquid crystal materials.

The present invention provides a solar reflective-absorptive device, comprising: an IR reflective transparent conductive film; a flexible transparent conductive film; a layer of liquid crystal dispersion in polymer matrix or polymer dispersion in liquid crystal domains allocated between said flexible IR reflective transparent conductive film and said flexible transparent conductive film. The liquid crystal dispersion is in polymer matrix or polymer dispersion domains, and comprises metalorganic dye compositions with absorption in the visible and/or IR regions of solar spectrum. The aforesaid liquid crystal dispersion consists of nematic mixtures and/or cholesteric mixtures comprising of chiral mesogenic or none-mesogenic chiral materials in nematic for IR absorption and/or broadband cholesteric materials for dynamic (electrically tunable) IR and visible absorption. The switching capability of the device will be carried out through reorientation of the liquid crystal dispersion sandwiched between said at least one transparent IR-reflective flexible conductive support and said transparent flexible conductive support.

The present invention relates to benzotriazole derivatives selected from the group of compounds of formulae Ia, Ib and Ic as defined in claim 1, to mesogenic media comprising the compounds of formulae Ia, Ib and Ic, and to the use of these compounds and mesogenic media in optical, electronic and electro-optical applications, in particular in devices for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, for example in windows.

The present application relates to a device for regulating the passage of energy from an outside space into an inside space, to compounds, windows and uses of the devices and compounds.

A liquid crystal polyester comprising a repeating unit derived from an aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid. The content of the repeating unit derived from an aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid is 80% or more based on 100% of a total number of all repeating units of the liquid crystal polyester. The repeating unit derived from an aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid comprises a repeating unit (A1) represented by the formula (A1) and a repeating unit (A2) represented by the formula (A2). A ratio [repeating unit (A2)/repeating unit (A1)] is 1.2 or larger. A molar ratio [phenolic hydroxyl groups/(the phenolic hydroxyl groups+acyl groups)] is 0.3 or lower, as calculated by .sup.1H-NMR.

—O—Ar.sup.11—CO—  (A1)

—O—Ar.sup.12—CO—  (A1)

Ar.sup.11 represents a phenylene group and Ar.sup.12 represents a naphthylene group. A hydrogen atom is optionally substituted.

The present invention relates to liquid-crystalline media comprising one or more mesogenic compounds of formula I as set forth hereinafter, wherein the one or more compounds of formula I are contained in the medium in an amount, based on the overall contents of the medium, of at least 15% by weight. The present invention further relates to a switching layer, a switching element and a window element containing the liquid-crystalline medium.

A liquid-crystalline media having a negative dielectric anisotropy and a high clearing point as specified herein, is suitable for use of in switchable optical cells in window elements, in particular laminated window elements.

A liquid crystal cell, a manufacturing method thereof and a use thereof are provided in the present disclosure. The liquid crystal cell is in a normally transparent mode, and has excellent transmittance-variable characteristics in a transparent mode and a scattering mode and excellent haze characteristics in the scattering mode. Such liquid crystal cell may be applied to various light modulation devices, such as a smart window, a window protective film, a flexible display element, a light shielding plate for transparent displays, an active retarder for 3D image displays or a viewing angle control film.