Chiral inorganic films: Structural fabrication and functional application analysis

Chirality is a fundamental and ubiquitous property in nature. As two-dimensional functional materials with chiral structures and optical activity, chiral inorganic thin films show broad prospects in biosensing, optoelectronic devices, spintronics, and pharmaceutical separation, due to their unique properties (chiral recognition, symmetric chiral catalysis, circularly polarized light response, and spin filtering). This review systematically summarizes the fabrication methods of chiral inorganic thin films, focusing on the mechanisms, characteristics, and research progress of mainstream technologies (bottom-up self-assembly, solvothermal method, top-down method) for chiral inorganic thin film systems. It outlines their core properties and application status in optics, catalysis, sensing, and spintronics, with specific examples illustrating application value. Finally, it discusses key issues in current research and prospects future development trends. Covering chiral inorganic metal oxides, noble metals, and other systems, this review highlights the advantages and research potential of different chiral thin films, providing comprehensive references for their subsequent design, preparation, and functional expansion.