Chu Chaoyang, Wang Yao, Ma Yanhang
School of Physical Science and Technology & Shanghai Key Laboratory of High-Resolution Electron Microscopy, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Dec 25;146(51):35339-35346. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c13478. Epub 2024 Dec 12.
Chiral inorganic nanomaterials have attracted broad interest due to their intriguing chirality-dependent performances. However, there is a lack of experimental studies and atomic-level evidence on their growth mechanism. Herein, high-crystalline chiral tellurium nanowires were synthesized in an alkali solution by using tellurium oxide as an inorganic source and hydrazine hydrate as a reductant. The evolution of the nucleus and crystalline domains was manifested using high-resolution electron microscopy and electron diffraction, demonstrating a nonclassical growth path, that is, from monomers to nanowires of clusters and then nanocrystals. Furthermore, chiral inducers, d/l-penicillamine, were used at different stages to study their effects on the bias of two enantiomorphic structures with different chiral space groups. A similar nonclassical growth mechanism was also found in the synthesis of chiral terbium phosphate nanowires, demonstrating a common growth phenomenon in chiral inorganic nanomaterials. This work provides novel insights into the formation of chiral nanomaterials, benefiting the further controllable synthesis of various chiral nanomaterials.
手性无机纳米材料因其有趣的手性相关性能而引起了广泛关注。然而，关于其生长机制缺乏实验研究和原子级证据。在此，以氧化碲为无机源、水合肼为还原剂，在碱性溶液中合成了高结晶度的手性碲纳米线。利用高分辨率电子显微镜和电子衍射揭示了核与晶域的演化，证明了一种非经典的生长路径，即从单体到团簇纳米线再到纳米晶体。此外，在不同阶段使用手性诱导剂d/l-青霉胺来研究它们对具有不同手性空间群的两种对映体结构偏向的影响。在手性磷酸铽纳米线的合成中也发现了类似的非经典生长机制，这表明在手性无机纳米材料中存在一种共同的生长现象。这项工作为手性纳米材料的形成提供了新的见解，有助于进一步可控合成各种手性纳米材料。
