Tuning the Chiroptical Properties of Tellurium Nanocrystals With Geometric Control

Chiral ligands have been widely employed to synthesize chiral inorganic nanostructures, and it has often been recognized that the chiroptical properties of synthesized chiral nanostructures are primarily derived from the molecular chirality of ligands. Here, we show that the transition in chirality of tellurium (Te) nanostructures can be induced by structural transition. In the study of surfactant and ligand-assisted synthesis of Te nanocrystals, we obtained Te nanostructures of varying sizes and shapes through the control of preparation conditions and revealed that the chiral induction in Te nanocrystals is not merely determined by the molecular chirality of the ligand but also affected by the geometrical properties of Te nanocrystals. In addition, selenium impurities have also been found to be able to affect the structure and sign inversion of the circular dichroism signal of Te nanocrystals. Our findings imply the promising prospect of geometric control in tuning the chiral chiroptical properties of inorganic nanocrystals.