Outlook and developments

To date, the technology has been tested with electrodes made from platinum-based deposits. These electrodes show excellent results, but have a limited lifespan. Electrochemical oxidation of platinum at excessively high potentials erases the chirality. In the case of synthesis, efficiency decreases with the number of uses. What's more, from an economic point of view, it's essential to develop this approach with materials other than platinum, which are less expensive but just as chemically and mechanically stable.

So far, a few chiral molecules of various interests (medical treatments, additives, disinfectants, etc.) have been studied. Future work will focus on the application of this technology to the synthesis of new molecules, and also on the use of these chiral mesoporous metal matrices as stationary phases for the separation of enantiomers.