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Updated: Jun 29, 2025

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Published on: February 15, 2016
Structural and Electronic Chirality in Inorganic Crystals: from Construction to Application
Yudi Zhang1,2, Yuzhe Ma1,2, Wen Sun1,2
1CAS Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, and Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Application Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China.
Chirality is crucial in nature and life's origin. This review explores structural and electronic chirality in inorganic materials, detailing their construction and diverse applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemistry
- Crystallography
Background:
- Chirality is fundamental to nature and the origin of life.
- While organic chirality is well-understood, inorganic chirality is an evolving field.
- Inorganic materials exhibit complex chiral properties due to diverse structures and atomic geometries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize foundational concepts of molecular and solid-state chirality.
- To introduce structural and electronic chirality in 3D and 2D inorganic materials.
- To review construction methods and applications of chiral inorganic materials.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on chiral inorganic materials.
- Classification of chirality construction methods: photolithography, wet-chemistry, self-assembly, chiral imprinting.
- Summarization of research progress in key application areas.
Main Results:
- Overview of structural and electronic chirality in inorganic systems.
- Categorization of methods for constructing chirality in inorganic materials.
- Compilation of applications including optical activity, sensing, separation, catalysis, and spin polarization.
Conclusions:
- Chiral inorganic materials offer diverse applications.
- Further research can stimulate innovative strategies and novel applications.
- This review serves as a reference for the field of chiral inorganic materials.
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