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In this contribution, bovine serum albumin stabilized gold nanoclusters as novel fluorescent probes were successfully utilized for the detection of methotrexate for the first time. Our prepared gold nanoclusters exhibited strong emission with peak maximum at 633.5 nm. However, the addition of methotrexate induced the strong fluorescence intensity of the gold nanoclusters to decrease. The decrease in fluorescence intensity of the gold nanoclusters caused by methotrexate allowed the sensitive detection of methotrexate in the range of 0.0016 μg mL(-1) to 24 μg mL(-1). The detection limit for methotrexate is 0.9 ng mL(-1) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The present sensor for methotrexate detection possessed a low detection limit and wide linear range. In addition, the real samples were analyzed with satisfactory results.

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We report the molecular self-assembly of two amphiphilic peptides (A 6 K and V 6 K) and the application of their self-assemblies as organic templates to direct biosilica formation. Under ambient conditions, A 6 K selfassembled into nanotubes 2.7 nm tall and approximately 1 mm to 2 mm long. In contrast, V 6 K selfassembled into lamellar-stack nanostructures approximately 4 nm tall and under 100 nm long. The selfassembled peptide nanostructures were used as organic templates to direct biosilica formation.Comparing with the self-assembled structures formed by the peptide/anions system, novel silica morphologies can be obtained by changing the peptide composition, using different anions, and applying electrostatic/flow fields. We observed that the presence of anions is important but not enough to produce ordered silica structures with novel morphologies. This study provides further understanding of silica biomineralization tailored by assembled peptides, which offers a simple but efficient method to control the formation of inorganic material.