Chiral Hierarchies at the Nanoscale Revealed by Three-Dimensional Scanning Electron Diffraction.

Abstract

Natural biocomposites such as wood and plant cell walls exhibit prominent mechanical properties largely attributed to the nanoscale organization of fibrous components, such as cellulose, which often adopt chiral arrangements. However, resolving the three-dimensional (3D) arrangement of these structures at the nanoscale remains a significant challenge, particularly in beam-sensitive materials. This study introduces a method for 3D reconstruction of orientation based on scanning electron diffraction (SED), enabling the quantitative mapping of chiral supramolecular organization with sub-100 nm spatial resolution. By acquiring low-dose SED data at multiple tilt angles and applying a symmetry-based reconstruction algorithm, we resolved the 3D orientation of cellulose fibrils in native oat husk and birch wood. Our results reveal a multilayered cell wall architecture with alternating helical handedness, providing precise measurements of 3D fibril orientation. This method reveals complex hierarchical structures at the nanoscale, enabling rapid data acquisition and analysis using widely available instrumentation. The ability to resolve such chiral organization provides insights into material properties as well as opportunities for designing bioinspired materials with tunable mechanical and functional properties that extend far beyond natural biocomposite materials.