In this contribution, a series of shape-controllable ZnO nanostructures were synthesized in ionic liquids by a simpler, only one-step, low-temperature route, and characterized by XRD, XPS, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, EDXA, SEM, FTIR, surface area measurement and photoluminescence. We mainly investigate the effect of cations of ionic liquids on the shape of ZnO nanostructures and the forming mechanism of ZnO nanostructures in ionic liquids, as well as the luminescent property and photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine B. The results show that the longer alkyl chain at position-1 of the imidazole ring of the ionic liquid will hinder the ZnO nanostructures from growing longer, and the hydrogen bonds may play a crucial role for the directional growth of the 1D nanocrystals. The photoluminescent study shows that the as-obtained ZnO nanostructures exhibit a unique green emission, indicating the existence of oxygen vacancies in the ZnO nanostructures. Importantly, the as-obtained ZnO nanostructures prepared in different ionic liquids show strong size/shape-dependent photocatalysis activity for degradation of Rhodamine B, and the well-dispersed homogeneous ZnO nanoparticles and nanowires display high photocatalytic activity. The investigation of photodegradation kinetics of Rhodamine B indicates that the photodegradation process obeys the rule of a first-order kinetic equation ln( C(0)/ C) = kt. This is the first systematic investigation on the relationship between the structure of ionic liquids and the morphology of ZnO nanostructures.

Two 24-nuclear lanthanide clusters, and were obtained and structurally characterized. Magnetic investigations reveal that exhibits the largest entropy change (-ΔS(m)) of 46.12 J kg(-1) K(-1) for ΔH = 7 T in all reported molecular clusters, and single-molecule magnet behaviour is observed in .

The assembly sequence of the coordination cluster [Zn5 (H2 L(n) )6 ](NO3 )4 ]⋅8 H2 O⋅2 CH3 OH (Zn5 , H3 L(n) =(1,2-bis(benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-ethenol) involves in situ dehydration of 1,2-bis(benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-1,2-ethanediol (H4 L) through the formation of the [Zn(H3 L)2 ](+) monomer, dimerization to [Zn2 (H3 L)2 ](+) , dehydration of the ligand to [Zn2 (H2 L(n) )2 ](+) , and the final formation of the pentanuclear cluster. The cluster has the following special characteristics: 1) high stability in both refluxing 37 % HCl and 27 % NH3 , 2) low cytotoxicity, and 3) pH-sensitive fluorescence in the visible-to-near-infrared (Vis/NIR) region in the solid state and in solution. We have applied it as a fluorescent probe both in vivo and in vitro. Its H-bonding ability is the key to its affinity and selectivity for imaging lysosomes in HeLa cells and tumors in male BALB/C mice. It provides a new type of sensitive and biocompatible fluorescent probe for detecting small tumors (13.5 mm(3) ).