TOPIC：The Tricontinuous 3ths(5) Phase: A New Morphology in Copolymer Melts 
SPEAKER：Dr Gerd Schröder-Turk，the School of Engineering and Information Technology，Murdoch University，Australia

TIME：Aug. 31 (Wednesday) PM15:00  
LOCATION：Room 528, Chemistry Building A (化学A楼528演讲厅) 
INVITER：韩璐 特别研究员
 

Abstract：

Self-assembly remains the most efficient route to the formation of ordered nanostructures, including the double gyroid network phase in diblock copolymers based on two intergrown network domains. Here we use self-consistent field theory to show that a tricontinuous structure with monoclinic symmetry, called 3ths(5), based on the intergrowth of three distorted ths nets, is an equilibrium phase of triblock star-copolymer melts when an extended molecular core is introduced. The introduction of the core enhances the role of chain stretching by enforcing larger structural length scales, thus destabilizing the hexagonal columnar phase in favor of morphologies with less packing frustration. This study further demonstrates that the introduction of molecular cores is a general concept for tuning the relative importance of entropic and enthalpic free energy contributions, hence providing a tool to stabilize an extended repertoire of nanostructured phases.

Reference: Fischer et al, Macromolecules 47, 7424-7430 (2014)

BIO：

Dr Gerd Schröder-Turk

Dipl-Phys (Cologne); PhD (ANU); Dr. habil. (FAU Erlangen)

Senior Lecturer

I am a senior lecturer in Maths & Stats within the School of Engineering and Information Technology at Murdoch University. I refer to my field of research as ‘Materials geometry’, that is, the materials science and physics of complex nano- or micro-structured materials addressed through the goggles of geometry, including hyperbolic, computational and stochastic geometry. A particular research focus are ordered network-like nanogeometries based on triply-periodic surfaces and nets, formed spontaneously by self-assembly or in biological systems, with a variety of interesting properties, from photonics to mechanics, and with a likely role in many biological processes. I enjoy interdisciplinary work, between mathematical modeling, physics, physical chemistry and materials science.