Cellulose Nanocrystals-based Chiroptical Materials

keywords:cellulose nanocrystals  chiroptical materials  photonic bandgaps  optoelectronics  energy and chirality transfer

Abstract:Chiroptical materials are widely used in photonic devices, enantioselective catalysis and bio-sensors. Cellulose-base chiroptical materials with multilength scale structural hierarchy and unique light manipulation ability found in nature provide inspiration for materials design. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) display twisted rod morphology and hierarchical chirality. Leveraging the evaporation-induced self-assembly of negatively charged CNC, a broad realm of CNC-based chiroptical materials featuring one-dimensional photonic bandgap and novel chiroptical properties have been developed, which are of scientific and technological significance. Here we presented a brief overview on CNC-based chiroptical materials by evaporation-induced self-assembly, showed energy and chirality transfer in a host-guest environment leading to photonic bandgap modulation of optoelectronic properties, outlined novel chiroptical phenomena and their underlying principles, and demonstrated the application potentials of the CNC-based chiroptical materials.