Tuning Enantioselective Recognition and Synergistic Catalytic Activity by the Heterojunction of a Chiral Polysaccharide Hydrogel Interface Electric Field

The demand for high conductivity often forces hydrogels to sacrifice their chiral ordered structure, and the addition of conductive materials may destroy the spatial arrangement of chiral components and reduce the stereoselectivity. To solve this problem, we introduced the heterojunction structure with good electron transport characteristics into the chiral hydrogel to obtain CoFe Prussian blue analogue/MoS₂@Chitosan hydrogel (PBA/MoS₂@CSH), and it exhibits interface catalytic activity and enantioselective recognition performance. The experimental and theoretical calculation results show that chitosan and its cross-linked PBA/MoS₂ compounds complement each other. The chiral microenvironment of the former has different effects on tryptophan enantiomers. The heterojunction between the latter can accelerate the electron transfer during the catalytic oxidation process of tryptophan adsorbed by chitosan by forming a directional interface electric field, thus amplifying the electrochemical signal and increasing the enantioselectivity effect. The collaborative design of chiral hydrogels and heterojunctions is expected to break through the functional boundaries of traditional materials, and endow the materials with multiple functions through the complementarity of the dynamic responsiveness of the chiral structure and the interfacial effects of the heterojunction.