Chiral fibers exist widely in nature; however, only limited success has been achieved in imitating them for preparing artificial continuous chiral fibers. This results in a big scientific challenge to deeply investigate chiral materials from viewpoints of macroscopic chirality and practical uses. The present paper reports the first protocol for preparing optically active nanofibers derived from chiral helical polymers via the electrospinning process, using a helical substituted polyacetylene as a model. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images demonstrate the electrospun nanofibers possessing regular morphology, uniform dimension, and the desired continuity. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra show that the nanofibers have remarkable optical activity, which has originated in the predominantly one-handed helical polymer chains. To further improve the properties of the nanofibers, substrates were used for preparing composite nanofibers, which also show the anticipated optical activity. The present work opens up an unprecedented, versatile, and powerful platform for preparing chiral polymer nanofibers with potential chiral applications as chiral sensors and membranes, among others.

中文翻译：

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旋光性螺旋取代聚乙炔电纺纳米纤维的制备及手性研究

手性纤维在自然界广泛存在。然而，在模仿它们以制备人造连续手性纤维方面仅获得了有限的成功。从宏观手性和实际​​应用的角度出发，这对深入研究手性材料提出了巨大的科学挑战。本文报道了第一个协议，通过使用静电取代的聚乙炔作为模型，通过电纺丝工艺制备从手性螺旋聚合物衍生的旋光纳米纤维。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）图像表明，电纺纳米纤维具有规则的形态，均匀的尺寸和所需的连续性。圆二色性（CD）光谱表明，纳米纤维具有显着的光学活性，其起源于主要是单手螺旋聚合物链。为了进一步改善纳米纤维的性能，将基材用于制备复合纳米纤维，其还显示出预期的光学活性。本工作为制备手性聚合物纳米纤维开辟了前所未有的，用途广泛且功能强大的平台，具有潜在的手性应用前景，如手性传感器和膜等。