Phase behaviour of active nanoparticles in block copolymer melts

Block copolymer melts have been largely used to control the position and alignment of anisotropic nanoparticles. The self-assembly properties of block copolymer melts allow to obtain hierarchical systems that inherit the symmetry properties of block copolymers. On the other hand, active particles display a rich phase behaviour in the presence of obstacles or under confinement. In this work we explore the co-assembly of active nanoparticles within block copolymer melts in two- and three-dimensions finding single-particle and collective behaviour due to the interplay between colloidal directed motion and block copolymer morphology. Active particles are found to act not as mere fillers but able to distort the block copolymer morphology and produce novel co-assembled structures, both for the case of isotropic and anisotropic particles. The rich phase behaviour of active Brownian particles within block copolymer matrices highlights the co-assembly possibilities of active particles in complex media.