Chiral Arrangement of Achiral Au Nanoparticles by Supramolecular Assembly of Helical Nanofiber Templates

Chiral materials composed of organized nanoparticle superstructures have promising applications to photonics and sensing. Reliable customization of the chiroptical properties of these materials remains an important goal; hence, we report a customizable scheme making use of modular gelator components for controlling the helicity and formation of nanofibers over long length scales resulting in hydrogel templates. Controlled growth of gold nanoparticles at spatially arranged locations along the nanofiber is achieved by UV reduction of Au­(I) ions on the supramolecular templates. The resulting materials were found to have significant interparticle interactions and well-defined helicity to provide high quality, chiroptically active materials. With this novel approach, the tailored assembly of nanoparticle superstructures with predictable chiroptical properties can be realized in high yield, which we expect to allow rapid advancement of chiral nanomaterials research.