Metamaterials are artificially designed materials engineered to acquire their properties by their specific structure rather than their composition. They are considered a major scientific breakthrough and have attracted enormous attention over the past decade. The major challenge in obtaining an optical metamaterial active at visible frequencies is the fabrication of complex continuous metallic structures with nano metric features. This thesis presents the fabrication and characterization of optical metamaterials made by block copolymer self assembly. This approach allows fabrication of an intriguing and complex continuous 3D architecture called a gyroid, which is replicated into active plasmonic materials such as gold. The optical properties endowed by this particular gyroid geometry include reduction of plasma frequency, extraordinarily enhanced optical transmission, and a predicted negative refractive index. To date, this is the 3D optical metamaterial with the smallest features ever made.

This thesis explores the fabrication of gyroid-forming block copolymer templates and the optical properties of the resulting gyroid optical metamaterials, significantly contributing to our understanding of both. It demonstrates solvent vapour annealing to improve the long-range order of the templates, and investigates the unique crystallisation behaviour of their semicrystalline block. Furthermore, it shows that gyroid optical metamaterials that exhibit only short-range order are optically equivalent to nanoporous gold, and that the anomalous linear dichroism of gyroid optical metamaterials with long-range order is the result of the surface termination of the bulk gyroid morphology. Optical metamaterials are artificially engineered materials that, by virtue of their structure rather than their chemistry, may exhibit various optical properties not otherwise encountered in nature (e.g. a negative refractive index). However, these structures must be significantly smaller than the wavelength of visible light and are therefore challenging to fabricate using traditional “top down” techniques. Instead, a “bottom up” approach can be used, whereby optical metamaterials are fabricated via templates created by the self-assembly of block-copolymers. One such morphology is the gyroid, a chiral, continuous and triply periodic cubic network found in a range of natural and synthetic self-assembled systems.

Electromagnetic metamaterials are a family of shaped periodic materials which achieve extraordinary scattering properties that are difficult or impossible to achieve with naturally occurring materials. This book focuses on one such feature of electromagnetic metamaterials—the theory, properties, and applications of the absorption of electromagnetic radiation. We have written this book for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and practitioners, covering the background and tools necessary to engage in the research and practice of metamaterial electromagnetic wave absorbers in various fundamental and applied settings. Given the growing impact of climate change, the call for innovations that can circumvent the use of conventional energy sources will be increasingly important. As we highlight in Chapter 6, the absorption of radiation with electromagnetic metamaterials has been used for energy harvesting and energy generation, and will help to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Other applications ranging from biochemical sensing to imaging are also covered. We hope this book equips interested readers with the tools necessary to successfully engage in applied metamaterials research for clean, sustainable energy. This book consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction and a brief history of electromagnetic wave absorbers; Chapter 2 focuses on several theories of perfect absorbers; Chapter 3 discusses the scattering properties achievable with metamaterial absorbers; Chapter 4 provides significant detail on the fabricational processes; Chapter 5 discusses examples of dynamical absorbers; and Chapter 6 highlights applications of metamaterial absorbers.

The liquid-liquid interface and the two-phase, organic-aqueous systems are a key part of materials science. This book is written both as a state-of-the-art review on the materials synthesised through interfaces and a theoretical introduction on the properties and the fundamentals of the interface. It should be of interest to researchers currently working in various industrial sectors, academia and consultancy.The book deals with newly developed fluorescent polymers, nanoparticle arrays through interfaces and their potential applications in energy storage, enhanced oil recovery and sensors.Chapter 1 provides an overview of interfaces in natural and biological systems. Chapter 2 outlines the fundamental properties of the interface. Chapters 3 and 4 are devoted to the synthesis and self-organisation of nanoparticles and polymers through interfacial systems. The synthesis of conductive, fluorescent and conventional polymers and their properties are extensively covered, with the most important findings from the recent literature highlighted. A deeper analysis on their electronic transport, magnetic and optical properties is beyond the scope of this work and rather an introduction on these properties is presented. Finally, the closing Chapter 5 serves as a discussion and analysis on the potential applications of liquid-liquid boundaries and of the materials synthesised through them.

Macromolecular self-assembly - driven by weak, non-covalent, intermolecular forces - is a common principle of structure formation in natural and synthetic organic materials. The variability in material arrangement on the nanometre length scale makes this an ideal way of matching the structure-function demands of photonic and optoelectronic devices. However, suitable soft matter systems typically lack the appropriate photoactivity, conductivity or chemically stability. This thesis explores the implementation of soft matter design principles for inorganic thin film nanoarchitectures. Sacrificial block copolymers and colloids are employed as structure-directing agents for the co-assembly of solution-based inorganic materials, such as TiO_2 and SiO_2. Novel fabrication and characterization methods allow unprecedented control of material formation on the 10 – 500 nm length scale, allowing the design of material architectures with interesting photonic and optoelectronic properties.

While our five senses are doing a reasonably good job at representing the world around us on a macro-scale, we have no existing intuitive representation of the nanoworld, ruled by laws entirely foreign to our experience. This is where molecules mingle to create proteins; where you wouldn't recognize water as a liquid; and where minute morphological changes would reveal how much 'solid' things, such as the ground or houses, are constantly vibrating and moving. Following in the footsteps of Nano-Society and Nanotechnology: The Future is Tiny, this title introduces a new collection of stories demonstrating recent research in the field of nanotechnology. This drives home the fact that a plethora of nanotechnology R&D will become an integral part of improved and entirely novel materials, products, and applications yet will remain entirely invisible to the user. The book gives a personal perspective on how nanotechnologies are created and developed, and will appeal to anyone who has an interest in the research and future of nanotechnology. Reviews of Nanotechnology: The Future is Tiny: 'The book is recommended not only to all interested scientists, but also to students who are looking for a quick and clear introduction to various research areas of nanotechnology' Angew. Chem., 2017, 56(26), 7351–7351 'Once you start reading you will find it very difficult to stop' Chromatographia, 2017, 80, 1821

This book presents novel and fundamental aspects of metamaterials, which have been overlooked in most previous publications, including chirality, non-reciprocity, and the Dirac-cone formation. It also describes the cutting-edge achievements of experimental studies in the last several years: the development of high-regularity metasurfaces in optical frequencies, high-performance components in the terahertz range, and active, chiral, nonlinear and non-reciprocal metamaterials in the microwave range. Presented here are unique features such as tunable metamaterials based on the discharge plasma, selective thermal emission from plasmonic metasurfaces, and the classical analogue of the electromagnetically induced transparency. These most advanced research achievements are explained in understandable terms by experts in each topic. The descriptions with many practical examples facilitate learning, and not only researchers and experts in this field but also graduate students can read the book without difficulty. The reader finds how these new concepts and new developments are being utilized for practical applications.