Chirality and domain growth in the gyroid mesophase

Jonathan Chin, Peter V. Coveney
2006 Proceedings of the Royal Society A  
We describe the first dynamical simulations of domain growth during the self-assembly of the gyroid mesophase from a ternary amphiphilic mixture, using the lattice Boltzmann method. The gyroid is a chiral structure; we demonstrate that, for a symmetric amphiphile with no innate preference for left-or right-handed morphologies, the selfassembly process may give rise to a racemic mixture of domains. We use measurements of the averaged mean curvature to analyse the behaviour of domain walls, and
more » ... ggest that diffusive domain growth may be present in this system.
doi:10.1098/rspa.2006.1741 fatcat:bczpm5gfznbizmr452ytjvxxta