Block copolymers exhibit unique phase separation and structural transitions, making them highly relevant in industrial applications. This review provides a critical analysis of block copolymer systems, focusing on the thermodynamics of micro- and macro-phase separation and their ability to self-assemble into diverse morphologies. Grounded in the Flory-Huggins model, key factors such as segregation strength, solvent selectivity, molecular architecture (e.g. polydispersity and grafting sites), shear forces, and temperature are examined for their impact on phase behaviour in neat systems and in solution. Viscoelastic properties, particularly the storage (G') and loss (G") moduli, are analysed as dynamic indicators of phase transitions, enabling the identification of temperature ranges for phase separation and system dynamics across various morphologies. The influence of external stimuli such as shear and thermal fields is also discussed, with attention to their role in directing morphology across micellar, cubic, hexagonal, and lamellar phases. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge in the field, summarizing key advances and emerging applications. Special attention is given to potential developments in areas such as nanolithography, drug delivery, membrane technology, energy storage, photonics and catalysis. In doing so, the paper highlights emerging research directions and the role of thermodynamic and structural control in designing functional materials. By offering new perspectives on phase behaviour and self-assembly mechanisms, this work aims to guide the development of next-generation polymeric systems for emerging technologies.

Understanding processes in geoscience porous media is fundamental to a broad spectrum of environmental and energy-related applications. These processes include multiphase fluid transport, interfacial dynamics, reactive transformations, and interactions with solids or microbial components in geological materials, all governed by wettability, capillarity, and reactive transport at fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interfaces. Laboratory-based multiscale imaging provides critical insights into these phenomena, enabling direct visualization and quantitative characterization from the nanometer to meter scale. It is essential for advancing predictive models and optimizing the design of subsurface and engineered porous systems. This review presents an integrated overview of planar imaging, surface topography and volumetric imaging techniques relevant to porous media research, emphasizing the type of information each method can provide, their applicability to porous media systems, and their inherent limitations. We highlight how imaging data are combined with quantitative analyses and modeling to bridge pore-scale mechanisms with continuum-scale behavior, and we critically discuss current challenges such as limited spatio-temporal resolution, sample representativity, and restricted data accessibility. We conduct an in-depth analysis on open-science trends in experimental and computational porous media research and find that, while open-access publishing has become widespread, the availability of imaging data and analysis code remains limited, often restricted to 'upon request'. Finally, we underscore the importance of open sharing of imaging datasets to enable reproducibility, foster cross-disciplinary integration, and support the development of robust predictive frameworks for porous media systems.