Liquid crystal sensor for virus detection and tunable optical devices

Due to the stimuli-responsive characteristics and the optical modulation property of liquid crystals (LCs), LC sensors have become an emerging technology in detection and monitoring of the environment and chemical materials and biomolecules. LC sensors are simple in structure, visualizable in the output data, and efficient in function. In this talk, the state-of-the-art advances in LC sensors will be reviewed. The properties of the LC biosensors are strongly related to the sensor structure. Mesophases such as nematic LCs and chiral LCs have been widely used to fabricate the LC biosensors and three different geometries including the LC–aqueous interface, the LC–solid interface, and the LC droplets with spherical interface have been investigated intensively. As an example, real-time detection of the ssRNA of SARS-CoV-2 has been achieved in our lab in less than one second with a limit of detection of 1 fM.