Inorganic Materials with Double‐Helix Structures

Two different methods recently yielded inorganic materials with double-helix structures: Silicon microtubes (see picture) formed when high inner pressure forced NaSi melt through an opening in the surface of a disc, and carbon nanotubes were prepared when plates of layered double hydroxide coated with active catalyst particles were used as substrate. These reports open the door for the application of double-helical inorganic materials in chemistry and biology.