Rewritable optical storage has been obtained in a spiropyran doped liquid crystal polymer films. Pictures can be recorded on films upon irradiation with UV light passing through a grayscale mask and they can be rapidly erased using visible light. Films present improved photosensitivity and optical contrast, good resistance to photofatigue, and high spatial resolution. These photochromic films work as a multifunctional, dynamic photosensitive material with a real-time image recording feature.

We have developed a novel, light activated drug delivery containers, based on spiropyran doped liquid crystal micro spheres. Upon exposure to UV/violet light, the spiropyran molecules entrapped inside the nematic liquid crystal micro spheres, interconvert from the hydrophobic, oil soluble form, to the hydrophilic, water soluble merocyanine one, which stimulates the translocation of the merocyanine molecules across the nematic liquid crystal-water barrier and results their homogeneous distribution throughout in an aqueous environment. Light controllable switching property and extremely high solubility of spiropyran in the nematic liquid crystal, promise to elaborate a novel and reliable vehicles for the drug delivery systems.

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We have prepared the liquid crystal blue phase (BP) microdroplets emulsified in the glycerol environment and investigated their electro-optical properties upon the applied electric field. We showed that the lasing from the supercooled luminescent dye-doped BPI microdroplets can be controlled electrically. When the electric field intensity is increased, the lasing intensity is increased too along with the linewidth that decreases from 6 to 2.5 nm. Besides, the laser lines were shifted toward the shorter wavelength by 11 nm. All effects were achieved via electric field-stimulated structural and symmetrical modification of BPI microdroplets, resulting in their optical anisotropy and birefringence. Luminescent dye-doped liquid crystal blue phase-based microdroplets can find applications as electrically controlled microlaser sources for microphotonics and environmental sensing.