Chiral Textures Inside 2D Achiral Domains

Chiral interfaces are of capital importance for biorecognition processes and nanotechnology. In this work, a mixed Langmuir monolayer was built using a surface-active dye and a phospholipid. The monolayer displayed optical activity. The driving force for the formation of the supramolecular chirality is the self-assembly of the polar head-groups of the dye. The existence of supramolecular chirality inside nonchirally-shaped domains is shown.