Chiral Inorganic Nanostructures from Achiral Platforms: A Universal Synthesis Route via Supramolecular Self-Assembly

The chirality of nanostructured systems has gained growing attention in catalysis, biotechnology, and optoelectronics owing to their exotic enantio-/spin-selective interactions and intriguing chiroptical features. However, large-scale fabrication of chiral inorganic nanostructures still remains a challenge. Herein, we report a simple but generalized route for the synthesis of diverse chiral inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) such as Au, Ag, PdO, and TiO2 NPs using block copolymer (BCP) templates. The self assembled BCP inverse micelles offered a specific environment, wherein DL-alanine induced left-handedness via hydrogen bonding with the pyridines of polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinyl pyridine), for the evolution of chirality. The BCPs were then used as a chiral host to transfer their handedness to the anchored inorganic NPs, resulting in an anisotropy factor of -8.6 x 10-4 for the BCP/Au NP hybrid. Our design concept pinpoints the steps required to construct an extended library of viable chiral nanostructures and will aid in the development of artificial chiral materials.