Tuning the geometry, composition, and optical chirality of chiral Au nanorods for asymmetric nanocatalysis

Anisotropic Au nanorods with intrinsically chiral geometry have drawn significant attention in the applications of nanophotonics, biosensing, and catalysis due to their strong chirality-dependent activities. However, tuning the geometry and optical chirality of chiral Au nanorods remains a significant challenge. Here we report the integration of foreign ions with the seed-mediated chiral growth method for achieving chiral Au nanorods with the desired geometry and optical chirality. By deliberately controlling the addition of foreign ions, chiral Au nanorods with two different intrinsically chiral geometries (faceted and dendritic nanorods) can be obtained. Moreover, the chiral Au nanorods exhibit appealing morphologically dependent electrocatalytic activities toward the oxidation of tryptophan enantiomers. We further employed an epitaxial growth strategy to construct chiral Au@Pt and Au@Pd core–shell nanorods, which also exhibit remarkable enantioselectivities and catalytic activities. This work holds promise for the rational design of chiral nanomaterials with tunable geometry and chirality-dependent activities toward asymmetric photocatalysis and electrocatalysis.