Chiral symmetry breaking in interfacial fluids of achiral molecules

Chiral symmetry breaking in a fluid of achiral molecules at a liquid-solid inter-face was studied using atomistic molecular dynamics simulation. The molecules were achiral in three dimensions, but left- and right-handed forms could be distinguished in the reduced symmetry environment of an interfacial fluid. The system consisted of a thick fluid film in contact with a crystalline monolayer adsorbed to a solid surface. When molecules in the crystalline monolayer were arranged in uniformly chiral configurations, a homochiral enantiomeric excess developed in the adjacent interfacial fluid. Fluid properties were characterized through measurements of chiral, nematic, ferroelectric order parameters, and diffusion coefficients, as a function of distance from the interface. The emergence of chirality is attributed to fluid layering near the solid surface, suggesting that interfacial chirality is commonplace in fluids composed of molecules with certain symmetry characteristics.