Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Chirality

Chirality

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

Chirality in Nature

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.

Prochirality

Prochirality

The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Deep-Learning Inversion Maps Arbitrary Design Images to Low-Cost, Efficient Nanofabrication.

ACS nano·2026

Same author

Machine Learning-Assisted SERS Platform for Rapid and Quantitative Discrimination of Shiga Toxin-Producing <i>E. coli</i> Serotypes.

Biosensors·2025

Same author

Anisotropic Tactile Sensors: Constructive Designs, Challenges, and Emerging Applications.

Chem & bio engineering·2025

Same author

Closing the loop in next-generation sensing through shadow sphere lithography, plasmonics, and artificial intelligence.

Chemical Society reviews·2025

Same author

Pocket Electronic Nose Integrating an Ultra-Compact Sensor Array Chip and Spatiotemporal Network Enables Highly Selective Gas Sensing.

ACS sensors·2025

Same author

Gradient Nanostructures and Machine Learning Synergy for Robust Quantitative Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering.

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 4, 2025

Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates

Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates

Published on: March 5, 2019

Chiral Plasmonic Metamaterials with Tunable Chirality.

Yuduo Guan¹, Zengyao Wang¹, Bin Ai^2,3

¹State Key Lab of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P.R. China.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

|October 22, 2020

Summary

Researchers developed new chiral plasmonic nanostructures, including hollow nanovolcano array films and nanoshells, using colloidal lithography. These materials offer tunable chirality and potential for advanced flexible electronic devices.

Keywords:

chiral nanoshells chiral plasmonic metamaterial flexible devices hollow nanovolcano arrays

More Related Videos

An Electrochemical Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Device for Quick and Low-Voltage Color Modulation

An Electrochemical Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Device for Quick and Low-Voltage Color Modulation

Published on: February 27, 2019

Design, Fabrication, and Experimental Characterization of Plasmonic Photoconductive Terahertz Emitters

Design, Fabrication, and Experimental Characterization of Plasmonic Photoconductive Terahertz Emitters

Published on: July 8, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 4, 2025

Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates

Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates

Published on: March 5, 2019

An Electrochemical Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Device for Quick and Low-Voltage Color Modulation

An Electrochemical Cholesteric Liquid Crystalline Device for Quick and Low-Voltage Color Modulation

Published on: February 27, 2019

Design, Fabrication, and Experimental Characterization of Plasmonic Photoconductive Terahertz Emitters

Design, Fabrication, and Experimental Characterization of Plasmonic Photoconductive Terahertz Emitters

Published on: July 8, 2013

Area of Science:

Plasmonics
Metamaterials
Nanotechnology

Background:

Chiral plasmonic nanostructures are crucial for advanced optical applications.
Controlling chirality in nanostructures is essential for tunable optical responses.
Developing scalable fabrication methods for chiral nanostructures remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To fabricate chiral hollow nanovolcano array (HNVA) films and chiral hollow nanoshells (HNSs) simultaneously.
To investigate the tunability of chirality in these nanostructures.
To explore their application in flexible metamaterials and sensing.

Main Methods:

Utilized a colloidal lithography technique for simultaneous fabrication of HNVA films and HNSs.
Controlled chirality by regulating the opening-angle during metal deposition.
Transferred HNVA films to various substrates including PDMS, hydrogels, and curved surfaces.

Main Results:

Achieved simultaneous fabrication of HNVA films and HNSs with tunable chirality.
HNVA films demonstrated strong chiroptical responses (g-factor of 0.15) in the UV-Vis region.
Transferred films maintained chiroptical properties and mechanical strength on diverse substrates.
Incorporated HNSs into hydrogels to create deformable chiral flexible metamaterials for ultrasensitive water content detection.

Conclusions:

This work presents a novel strategy for fabricating tunable chiral plasmonic metamaterials.
The developed HNVA films and HNSs offer excellent transferability and integrability.
These materials pave the way for flexible devices with artificial chirality and advanced sensing capabilities.