Chiral Mesostructured Silica Nanofibers of MCM‐41

Abstract

Straightening out chirality: Chiral mesostructured silica nanofibers of MCM-41 with one (see TEM image, the arrows indicate periodic fringes) and two twist axes were fabricated from a simple dilute synthesis system without any chiral additives. A continuous transformation from a chiral mesostructure to an achiral straight mesostructure was observed, thus demonstrating an interesting relationship between these two seemingly different structures.