To obtain an element having an excellent bistability, good properties such as color purity, reflectance or the like and a high contrast by sandwiching a liquid crystal composition, which exhibits a cholesteric phase and contains a liquid crystalline ester compound, a liquid crystalline cyanobiphenyl compound and a chiral material, and a space holding material between a pair of substrates at least one of which is transparent.
A liquid crystal composition is obtained by blending preferably 20-70 wt.% of a liquid crystalline ester compound (e.g. compounds of formulas I, II or the like), preferably 1-25 wt.% of a liquid crystalline cyanobiphenyl compound (e.g. a compound of formula III or the like) and preferably 5-40 wt.% of at least one chiral material (e.g. compounds of formulas IV, V or the like) preferably containing not less than two kinds of compounds having asymmetric carbon atoms. This liquid crystal composition, together with a space holding material (a columnar-structured material), is sandwiched between a pair of substrates at least one of which is transparent. Optionally, a is added to the liquid crystal composition.
MATSUMOTO MITSUYO
UEDA HIDEAKI
