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This study reports on the fabrication of nanostructured membranes, based on plant-derived materials, with sub-nanometer tunability of pore size accomplished by unique stoichiometrically-biased variations. 

Two new, cross-linkable, phosphobetaine zwitterionic amphiphiles were found to form a type II bicontinuous cubic (Q_II) phase with aq. NH₄Cl. Upon polymerization, they form 3D-nanoporous membrane materials that are not susceptible to ion exchange. 

Self-assembled membranes with uniform pore sizes tunable in 0.1-nm steps have been developed for organic solvent nanofiltration. 

Lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) have drawn attention in numerous technical fields as they feature a variety of nanometer-scale structures, processability, and diverse chemical functionality. However, they suffer from poor mechanical properties and thermal stability. Polymerization in LLCs, referred to as LLC templating, is an effective approach to overcome this issue. While the templating approach results in robust mechanical, physical, and thermal properties, retention of the parent LLC structure after polymerization has been a major concern in the field. Therefore, there have been several efforts to introduce new materials and techniques to preserve the native LLC nanostructure after polymerization. In this review, we survey the efforts put in this area along with the applications of the obtained materials from LLC templating, after providing a brief introduction of LLC structures. Moreover, polymerization kinetics in different LLC structures, as a key player in the structure retention, are analyzed. Furthermore, we discuss the outlook of the field and available opportunities.