(537d) [Invited Talk] Searching for a Single Gyroid Network Phase in Block Copolymers

Network phases are triply periodic structures containing one or more percolating, three-dimensional paths. These materials have attracted attention in recent years as potential optical materials, where the optical properties emerge from either the chirality of the network or from plasmonic effects at the termination plane. This presentation will explore our recent computational research on routes to self-assemble a single gyroid phase in block copolymers, which can serve as templates for creating metallic metamaterials. While single gyroid is metastable in simple AB diblock copolymers, we have shown by self-consistent field theory (SCFT) that using either blends of linear block polymers or nonlinear polymer architectures expose stability windows for alternating gyroid and single gyroid in experimentally accessible systems.