Circularly Polarized Luminescence of Rhodamine B in a Supramolecular Chiral Medium Formed by a Vortex Flow

Sucked into the vortex: Hydrogels with embedded Rhodamine B dye showed stir-induced circularly polarized luminescence (CPL; see picture), the sense of which can be controlled by switching the stir direction from clockwise (CW) to counterclockwise (CCW) with slow cooling from the sol to gel states. The chiral alignment of the dye was erased by heating the sample above the gel-sol transition temperature.