Nano-Confinement-Directed Crystallization of Morphochiral Gold Nanohelices with Kinetically Programmable Geometry

Nano-Confinement-Directed Crystallization of Morphochiral Gold Nanohelices with Kinetically Programmable Geometry | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Nano-Confinement-Directed Crystallization of Morphochiral Gold Nanohelices with Kinetically Programmable Geometry Reiko Oda, Zakaria Anfar, Masahiro Nakaya, Wijak Yospanya, Simon Poly, and 14 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9308726/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The bottom-up synthesis of three-dimensional chiral metallic nanostructures without molecular chiral ligands remains a fundamental challenge. Here we report a template-confined, ligand-free strategy producing intrinsically morphochiral gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and nanohelices (GNHs) by AuCl₄⁻ reduction within rigid silica nanohelical nanocavities. Reductant choice selects the operative kinetic regime — charge-transfer-limited or diffusion-limited — yielding discrete GNPs or continuous GNHs, respectively. Under diffusion-limited conditions, crystallographic twinning redirects growth along the cavity, encoding chirality into the metal lattice. Pitch and diameter are template-fixed; helix length is kinetically controlled, decoupling these parameters and making helix length the sole tunable variable. The dissymmetry factor (g) scales sigmoidally with aspect ratio, programmable from ~10⁻³ to ~0.2 across two orders of magnitude. Electron tomography and simulations confirm morphology-intrinsic chiroptical activity persisting after template removal. This work establishes kinetic regime selection under nanoscale confinement as a general synthetic principle for programming three-dimensional chirality in metals. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry/Optical materials Physical sciences/Chemistry/Inorganic chemistry/Solid-state chemistry Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Synthesis and processing Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Nanoparticles Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SINatSynfinal310326.docx Supporting Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9308726","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":626040721,"identity":"fc8a7e1b-4e10-4e71-9dac-5cd998b7dc79","order_by":0,"name":"Reiko 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