The high viscosities allow the polymeric liquid crystals to be used in complex structures, but they are harder to align, limiting their usefulness. The polymerics align in microdomains facing all different directions, which ruins the optical effect.
The high viscosity of polymeric liquid crystals allows them to be incorporated into complex systems; however, this property makes it challenging to align them, thereby reducing their usefulness. As a consequence, the polymers tend to form microdomains with varied orientations, which diminishes the optical impact.