Chirality-enhanced catalytic selectivity of vanadium oxide (V2O4/5) nanoparticles for higher detection sensitivity

Chiral nanomaterials with biomimetic catalytic properties hold significant potential for applications in asymmetric catalysis, chiral synthesis, and regulation of biological activity. However, further research remains necessary to advance synthetic methodologies and practical implementations of these materials. In this study, L - and D -V 2 O 4/5 nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized with pronounced chiral optical activity from ultraviolet to near-infrared regions via an in-situ etching-regrowth approach, exhibiting an enantioselective oxidase-like catalytic activity toward chiral molecules. Specifically, L -V 2 O 4/5 displayed a preference toward L -epinephrine ( L -EP) with a selectivity factor of 1.40, for L -norepinephrine ( L -NE) with a selectivity factor of 1.34. During the catalytic oxidation of d -Glucose ( D -Glu), the produced H 2 O 2 byproduct degraded the chiral surface configuration of chiral V 2 O 4/5 NPs, significantly diminishing their chiroptical signals in the visible range. This effect enabled the development of a novel self-feedback D -Glu sensing platform. The comparative analysis demonstrated that D -V 2 O 4/5 NPs exhibited 1.80 times greater detection sensitivity than L -V 2 O 4/5 NPs for D -Glu detection, attributed to their superior ability to recognize chiral molecules. These findings highlight the significant impact of nanomaterial chirality on the ultrasensitive detection of chiral substances and underscore the promising applications of rationally designed chiral nanomaterials in enantioselective biomimetic catalysis and biosensing.