[Reading Science Through Cover Pages] Formation of Bow Tie-Shaped Nanosheets through Chirality

This week, the international academic journal ‘Nature’ featured a bow tie-shaped nanosheet formed by chirality on the cover. Chirality refers to a molecular structure that has the same structure and shape as a left hand and a right hand, but is symmetrical as if reflected in a mirror and cannot be overlapped with each other. In nature, most biomolecules such as DNA, protein amino acids, and monosaccharides are chiral.

Recently, research on creating new properties by artificially giving chirality to inorganic materials such as metals is continuing. In addition, it is used in the development of materials such as semiconductors by using the property that chiral molecules react differently when they encounter ‘polarized light’, which is light that vibrates in one direction.

A research team led by Professor Nicholas Kotov of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, USA, published the results of a study on ‘photoactive bowtie nanoassemblies with a chiral continuum’ in Nature on the 15th (local time).

It has not been known until now whether chirality, a geometrical characteristic, is possible with a stable and controllable chemical structure. The research team used nanosheets to check whether the geometric properties of chirality could be applied to chemical structures.

As a result of the study, it was found that as the nanosheets were assembled, a twisted shape was formed like a bow tie, and the direction of twisting depended on the chirality of the molecules used to form the nanosheets. It was also confirmed that the twist angle of the bow tie can be controlled. The research team also found that various bowtie particles react differently to polarized light depending on the chirality value.

The research team said, “The developed chiral compound can continuously adjust the angle, and if the polarization phenomenon is used, it will be of innovative help in the development of biomolecules and chemicals, as well as optical materials that can implement various colors as well as holograms and displays in the future. that,” he said.