Plasmonic nanocrystals with intrinsic chirality: Biomolecule-directed synthesis and applications

Plasmonic nanocrystals with intrinsic chirality are becoming a hot research focus and offer a wide range of applications in optics, biomedicine, asymmetric catalysis, and enantioselective sensing. Making use of the enantioselective interaction of chiral biomolecules and plasmonic nanocrystals, the biomolecules-directed synthesis endows chiral plasmonic nanocrystals with tunable optical properties and excellent biocompatibility. Recent advances in the biomolecule-directed geometric control of intrinsically chiral plasmonic nanomaterials have further provided great opportunities for their widespread applications in many emerging technological areas. The review summarizes the recent progress of biomolecule-directed synthesis and potential applications of chiral plasmonic nanocrystals and discusses their development prospects. Here we review the recent advances in the biomolecule-directed synthesis and geometry control of chiral plasmonic nanomaterials and widen the scope of their potential applications. It is envisioned that these studies will pave the way toward the rational design of chiral plasmonic nanomaterials with desired optical properties for emerging applications.