Controlling structure and thereby manipulating the properties of condensed matter is a central concern in materials science. A striking disparity exists in our ability to enact such structural control in self-assembled soft materials, relative to hard condensed matter systems. Such soft materials, including block copolymers and liquid crystals, present myriad opportunities for creating useful nanostructured systems, if their structure can be controlled with appropriate fidelity - the ability to precisely control their chemical functionality combined with the tunable characteristic length scales (~1-100 nm) of their self-assembled structures position them as versatile and attractive materials for applications ranging from membranes for size and chemo-selective transport, to optics, and lithography. This talk examines strategies for directing self-assembly and engineering order in nanostructured polymers and liquid crystals to create useful materials. We focus on recent advances in the creation of single crystals and materials with bespoke textures, highly ordered nanostructured membranes for water purification, and small length scale structures for lithography.
