Photoinduced alignment based on the blend of polyvinyl cinnamate and oligomeric cinnamate via linear polarized UV irradiation onto groove patterned surface

Photo-alignment property of groove patterned surface prepared from blend of poly (vinyl cinnamate) (PVCi) and oligomeric dicinnamate was investigated for the application for alignment layer of liquid crystal display. The study of the photoreaction kinetics using UV-vis spectrum with the irradiation time showed that the reaction rate of oligomeric cinnamate was enhanced compared to that of PVCi. Blend where PVCi was main component showed a slight improvement on the photoreaction rate. It was unable to obtain groove patterned surface only using oligomeric cinnamate itself owing to the high crystalline character. However, blending of PVCi made it possible to obtain clear surface pattern. Molecular orientation could be confirmed from the polar plot data. It can be suggested that blend of oligomeric cinnamate and polymeric cinnamate is promising material for the photoalignment layer.