Chiral 2D cadmium sulfide nanosheets grown at the water-air interface.

The introduction of chirality to 2D inorganic nanomaterials holds promise for creating functional materials tailored for next-generation optically active systems and optoelectronic devices. Despite their potential, synthesizing chiral 2D inorganic nanomaterials remains challenging due to the complexity involved in incorporating chiral molecules. Existing methods, such as sonication-assisted exfoliation, primarily focus on layered compounds, limiting applicability. Here, we introduce a novel strategy utilizing a chiral surfactant monolayer at the water-air interface as a soft template to guide the growth of chiral 2D cadmium sulfide nanosheets. The synthesized chiral nanosheets exhibit induced optical activity, demonstrated by circularly polarized light detection and enhanced oxygen evolution reaction performance. This work pioneers the construction of chiral non-layered 2D nanostructures, addressing a critical gap in the synthesis of diversified chiral 2D inorganic nanomaterials with practical applications.