We present experiments and simulations on development of hierarchically-structured materials using nanofibers of self assembling block copolymers blended with functional inorganic nanoparticles. Materials developed in this work show high porosity, large surface area and precise control over nanoscale-assembly, exhibiting an attractive design for application as electrode/catalyst layer in fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors. In particular, a novel scheme has been utilized to obtain equilibrium block copolymer self assembly in nanofibers. These self assembly structures are then used as templates to direct the location of functional nanoparticles in nanofibers. Molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted to understand the effect of material processing on assembly.
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