Chiral inorganic nanomaterials hold significant promise
for various
applications, including enantioselective catalysis, polarization-controlling
optical devices, metamaterials, and enantioselective molecular sensors.
In our previous work, we presented a method for synthesizing chiral
Au 432 helicoid III (Au helicoids) from peptides and amino acids,
where helical gaps are intricately arranged with 432 symmetry within
single cubic nanoparticles. In this study, we have achieved the fabrication
of chiral silica molds through Au etching subsequent to the silica
coating of Au helicoids. We demonstrate that these molds serve as
geometrically confined reactors capable of producing chiral Ag, Pd,
and Pt 432 helicoid III (Ag, Pd, and Pt helicoids). The morphology
of the synthesized Ag, Pd, and Pt helicoids closely resembles that
of the Au helicoids, exhibiting a superior g-factor compared to other
reported chiral structures of each material. Notably, the Ag and Pd
helicoids are found to be single-crystalline, with high-index planes
exposed within the gaps. We believe that this silica mold-based approach
can be generalized to synthesize chiral nanomaterials of various metal
and even oxide materials.