Chirality transfer to nanocrystals by peptide templates and circularly polarized light

Since the early advent of nanotechnology, proteins, peptides, and amino acids have frequently been used to synthesize and stabilize metallic and ceramic nanoparticles. Also, several signaling peptides and enzymes have the activity modulated by the association with nanostructured particles and films. Lately, with the discovery of giant magnetoresistance and chiral-induced spin selectivity, an innovative nanotechnological use of amino acids and proteins emerged. Enantiomeric pairs of amino acids, peptides, and other biomolecules have been used as templates for growing chiral distorted nanocrystals and for chiral functionalization of achiral nanoparticles. More recently, circularly polarized light has been raised as an alternative for synthesizing enantiomeric pairs of plasmonic nanocrystals on anisotropic seeds. These chiral nanostructured materials exhibit unique properties with applications in biological and technological fields harnessed in various applications, including biosensing, asymmetric catalysis, and optical devices. This review presents the experimental strategies and mechanisms of chirality transfer to plasmonic and ceramic nanoparticles using peptide templates and circularly polarized light.