providing a plug flow reactor,

introducing one or more components into the plug flow reactor, and

introducing or changing over time in the plug flow reactor to which the one or more components were added at least one variable affecting the one or more components to produce a combinatorial library of materials;

wherein the variable is selected from the group consisting of the type of component or starting material, the concentration of a component or starting material, the pressure in the reactor, the amount of actinic radiation supplied to a reaction zone, the type of energy supplied to a reaction zone, the type of component mixing, the degree of component mixture, the chemical reaction of components, the residence time, and/or where and/or when additional components are introduced into the plug flow reactor;

and wherein the combinatorial library of materials comprises at least one of the following: small-molecule materials, biological materials, biologically active materials, block copolymers, graft copolymers, tapered or gradient polymers, branched polymers, star polymers, comb polymers, network polymers, end-functional polymers, site specific functional polymers, and/or telechelic polymers.