Preparation of twisted organic–inorganic hybrid silica bundles with circularly polarized luminescence by supramolecular templating polymerization.

Single-handed twisted organic–inorganic hybrid silica bundles with circularly polarized luminescence property were prepared by supramolecular templating polymerization of tetraethoxysilane and TPE-containing bis(triethoxysilane). [Display omitted] • Twisted hybrid silicas were prepared by supramolecular templating polymerization. • Chirality was transferred from supramolecular templates to hybrid silicas. • Luminescent hybrid silicas possess high thermal stabilities. • Hybrid silicas exhibit circularly polarized luminescence activity. Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials have attracted increasing attention because of their promising applications in optoelectronics and chiroptical sensing. However, silica-based organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with CPL properties have been rarely reported. In this work, twisted hybrid silica bundles were prepared by supramolecular templating polymerization of tetraphenylethene-containing bis(triethoxysilane) and tetraethoxysilane using the self-assemblies of chiral low-molecular-weight gelators as templates. It was found that the chirality of the supramolecular templates was transferred to the hybrid silicas. The hybrid silicas emitted green CPL with the luminescence dissymmetry factor up to 1.2 × 10−3 and high fluorescence efficiency. This work presents a facile method to fabricate silica-based hybrid nanomaterials with CPL activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]