UV‐Triggered Optical Asymmetry Modification of Gold Nanorods Helical Assemblies in a Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Host

Abstract

The creation and modulation of chirality in nanomaterials is a well‐established and widely applied concept. Nevertheless, the direct approach of dynamically tuning their morphological asymmetry at the nanoscale to reveal their optical asymmetry variations is yet less well‐implemented. The helical templating of nanomaterials within a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) host and the exploitation of their optical asymmetry change in conjunction with the host represent a means of circumventing technological limitations. In this study, a blending approach is employed to investigate the helical assemblies of gold nanorods (Au NRs) within a photo‐tunable CLC host, followed by their morphological asymmetry modulation through the use of UV irradiation. The results demonstrated that the optical asymmetry of the Au NRs helical assemblies increased in response to a reduction in pitch and the distance between the Au NRs, regardless of the azimuthal variations. Furthermore, the Au NRs blended with CLCs exhibited excellent and stable reflective properties comparable to those of conventional CLCs. Additionally, they can modulate the light flux of incident light at NIR wavelengths. The integrated modulation of reflection and transmission by Au NRs helical assemblies and CLC hosts represents a promising avenue for future research in the field of multi‐level information encryption.