A group of South Korean scientists has used amino acids and peptides to create a new type of
nanostructure that can be utilized in various industries, a joint university-company team said Thursday.
Many chemicals significant to life have mirror-image twins, a characteristic known as chirality, though it is only observed in organic molecules.
The teams from Seoul National University (SNU), Pohang University of Science and Technology and LG Display Co. have successfully created three-dimensional metallic nanostructures with chirality, SNU said.
The chiral gold nanoparticles interact differently with the circularly polarized visible light to display extensive color modulation, it said. As a result, color change is possible by controlling the light polarization. This has the potential to be used in future display designs. 
“Based on the understanding of interface between peptides and inorganic materials, we have built a new platform technology to control the crystallographic asymmetry,” Kim Tae-nam, a lead researcher from SNU. “This finding can make a direct and immediate impact on optical devices.”
The researchers said potential applications include active color display, holography and chirality sensors.
Their research was funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, and was published in the latest edition of Nature. (Yonhap)