Control of morphology and helicity of chiral mesoporous silica

Chiral ordered mesoporous silica has been synthesized by using a chiral surfactant (N-myristoyl-L-alanine sodium salt) as a template, 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane as a co-structure directing agent, and tetraethoxylsilane as an inorganic source. The helicity and the morphology of the mesoporous silica are determined by the stirring rate during the chiral surfactant self-assembly (see Figure), providing new insight into the chiral self-assembly of molecules.