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...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Hypergolic Copper Cluster-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks.

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)·2026

Same author

Water-Triggered Structural Transformation in a Silver Chalcogenolate Cluster-Based MOF (SCC-MOF) Enables Visually Readable Trace Water Sensing.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same author

Anti-Heavy-Atom Effect Boosts Electroluminescence in Copper Cluster-Based LEDs.

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)·2026

Same author

Helical Photonic Confinement of Metal Clusters Enables Switching and Imaging of Near-Infrared Circularly Polarized Light.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same author

Exposing Metal Centers in Carborane-Protected Copper Cluster Electrocatalysts.

ACS nano·2026

Same author

Multiscale Simulations Reveal Distal Allosteric Reprogramming of Pocket Dynamics and Dual Hydrolytic Pathways in Engineered Methyl Parathion Hydrolase.

The journal of physical chemistry. B·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 15, 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

Gold clusters assembled homochiral helical microbowties.

Shuai-Peng Chen¹, Jiajia Zhang¹, Qi-Xiang Cai¹

¹Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, and College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.

Science Advances

|July 16, 2025

Summary

Researchers created chiral gold (Au₄) cluster-based helical microbowties using electrostatic interactions. This breakthrough enables understanding chirality transfer and developing novel optical materials.

More Related Videos

DNA Origami-Mediated Substrate Nanopatterning of Inorganic Structures for Sensing Applications

DNA Origami-Mediated Substrate Nanopatterning of Inorganic Structures for Sensing Applications

Published on: September 27, 2019

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles

Published on: May 8, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 15, 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

DNA Origami-Mediated Substrate Nanopatterning of Inorganic Structures for Sensing Applications

DNA Origami-Mediated Substrate Nanopatterning of Inorganic Structures for Sensing Applications

Published on: September 27, 2019

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles

Self-assembly of Complex Two-dimensional Shapes from Single-stranded DNA Tiles

Published on: May 8, 2015

Area of Science:

Supramolecular chemistry
Nanotechnology
Chiral materials science

Background:

Hierarchical chiral architectures are crucial in nature, but fabricating microscale helical superstructures from metal clusters is challenging.
Understanding the evolution of chirality in complex structures is vital for advanced material design.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a method for fabricating microscale helical superstructures from metal clusters.
To investigate the mechanism of chirality transfer and hierarchical assembly in these structures.
To explore the optical properties of the resulting helical microbowties.

Main Methods:

Electrostatic interaction-driven co-assembly of chiral gold (Au₄) clusters and trans-1,4-cyclohexanediamine.
Characterization of morphology evolution from nanoplatelets to helical microbowties.
Analysis of photoluminescence and circularly polarized luminescence.

Main Results:

Successfully fabricated hierarchically assembled helical bowties with micrometer scale.
Demonstrated continuous chirality transfer from Au₄ clusters to the microstructures.
Elucidated the hierarchical evolution mechanism involving helical stacking and twisting.
Observed switchable photoluminescence and circularly polarized luminescence.

Conclusions:

Achieved controllable formation of metal cluster-based helical microbowties.
Deepened the understanding of chirality transfer and expression at the microscale.
Highlighted the potential of these structures for applications in optics and chiral materials.