This letter reports the effects of nanoparticles on the concentration of mobile ions in liquid crystals with weakly ionized species. Contrary to the case of fully ionized contaminants, the regimes of the purification and contamination achieved in liquid crystal nanocolloids with weakly ionized species depend on the interplay between the ion adsorption/ion desorption and ion generation/ion recombination. The competition between these processes results in the reduction of the magnitude of the purification and contamination levels in liquid crystals with weakly ionized species as compared to similar effects in the case of full ionization of contaminants. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.