Industrial Automatic Control Systems and Controllers Annotation << Back The Role of a Cationic Surfactant in a Liquid Crystal Control Device Egamov M.Kh., Sidikov V.T. The textures and optical properties of polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) at low voltages of a sinusoidal electric fi eld are studied. To improve the process of reorientation of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) molecules inside droplets under the infl uence of electric fi eld strength, a surfactant of the cationic type was added to the nematic mixture. The structure formation and confi guration of the director are determined due to low concentrations of surfactant. It was found that in the absence of an electric fi eld, a bipolar confi guration is formed in the drops of NLC, and at relatively higher values of the electric fi eld, the formation of a structure of the "Maltese cross" type is observed. It was shown that the alloying of the samples of the studied composites with ~0.1 % surfactant demonstrate high values of anchoring energy in relation to concentrations of 0.2 % and 0.4 %. Possible mechanisms for reducing the binding energy of NLC and the polymer matrix associated with the formation of a large number of small liquid crystal droplets are indicated. Keywords: polymers, liquid crystal, nematic, guest-host effect, phase separation, morphology of droplets, threshold stress, surfactant. DOI: 10.25791/asu.12.2024.1551 Pp. 33-38.