Biogenic silica nanoparticles (25-30 nm in diameter) were synthesized from rice husks. The characterizations revealed that the silica nanoparticles were composed of smaller primary particles (ca. 4.2 nm in diameter), and their clustering led to a porous structure with a surface area of 164 m(2)/g. Under the controlled melting catalyzed by K(+), such silica nanoparticle clusters can gradually fuse to form semicrystalline porous silica frameworks with tunable pore size and structural integrity.

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A discrete hexagonal metallacycle 1 decorated with tetraphenylethylene, amide groups and long hydrophobic alkyl chains was constructed via [3 + 3] coordination-driven self-assembly, from which the fluorescence emission-enhanced organogelator with multiple stimuli-responsiveness was successfully prepared via hierarchical self-assembly.

A simple fluorescent probe NHQ based on quinoline was successfully prepared via one-step synthesis. The probe NHQ exhibited "turn-on" fluorescence and excellent selectivity toward Cd(2+) in different buffer solutions such as Tris-HCl buffer solution, HEPES buffer solution, and PBS buffer solution, and even in water. Moreover, the binding model of NHQ with Cd(2+) was definitely confirmed by the single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of the complex.