Methods are provided for producing a shrunken replica or a shrunken
inverse replica of a multicontinuous structure. In one embodiment, the
method comprises (1) infiltrating a first multicontinuous structure with
a first fluid material which can be immobilized and shrunken, wherein the
first multicontinuous structure comprises at least a first phase and a
second phase which is immiscible with the first phase, and the
infiltration displaces the second phase in the first multicontinuous
structure to form a second multicontinuous structure which comprises at
least the first phase and a third phase which consists of the first fluid
material; (2) immobilizing the infiltrated first fluid material in the
second multicontinuous structure; (3) removing the first phase from the
second multicontinuous structure; and (4) shrinking (e.g., by a pyrolysis
process) the third phase of the second multicontinuous structure, to
produce an isotropically shrunken inverse replica of the first
multicontinuous structure.