Core-Shell Gyroid in ABC Bottlebrush Block Terpolymers

Block polymer self-assembly provides a versatile platform for creating useful materials endowed with three-dimensional periodic network morphologies that support orthogonal physical properties such as high ionic conductivity and a high elastic modulus. However, coil configurations limit conventional linear block polymers to finite ordered network dimensions, which are further restricted by slow self-assembly kinetics at high molecular weights. A bottlebrush architecture can circumvent both shortcomings owing to extended backbone configurations due to side chain crowding and molecular dynamics substantially free of chain entanglements. However, until now, network morphologies have not been reported in AB bottlebrush block copolymers, notwithstanding favorable mean-field predictions. We explored the phase behavior by small-angle X-ray scattering of 133 poly(ethylene