Hydrogel Encapsulated Dynamic Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules: Implications for Responsive Optical Materials

The DNA-guided self-assembly of plasmonic metamolecules has attracted significant interest for creating tailored optical functionalities. However, their broader applications are limited by the fluid environments required for DNA-assembled chiral plasmonic metamolecules to maintain their stability. In this study, we introduce an innovative approach for encapsulating these chiral plasmonic metamolecules within a carboxylated cellulose nanofiber (CNF) hydrogel matrix, providing a stable and nonfluid support medium. Our results demonstrate that the hydrogel-encapsulated metamolecules maintain their chiral optical properties even outside of fluid media, enabling the use of toehold-mediated strand displacement reactions and light-driven systems for dynamic tuning. The light-driven system, which offers a noninvasive regulatory approach, performs exceptionally well within hydrogels. Employing this hydrogel encapsulation approach, the fabrication of chiral plasmonic films or responsive metasurfaces, utilizing DNA-assembled dynamic plasmonic metamolecules, could be envisioned.