Controlling inorganic nanorods is key to the development of functional devices utilizing their anisotropic properties. In this study, we present the unidirectionally aligned liquid-crystalline (LC) polymer films with a thickness of 20 µm dispersed with ZnO nanorods. The nanorods grafted with LC polymers were synthesized and mixed with polymerizable host LCs in a glass cell, and subsequently the mixture was irradiated with ultraviolet (UV) light to obtain polymer films. Polarized optical microscopy, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that LC polymer-grafted ZnO nanorods were aligned along host nematic LC molecules. Anisotropic thermal diffusivity of host LC and ZnO nanorods was investigated in terms of the alignment direction.
