ZnO-Au25 nanocomposites were synthesized by doping Au25 nanoclusters into the porous ZnO nanospheres. It was notable that the ultrasmall Au25 nanoclusters possessed uniform sizes and fine dispersibility on the porous ZnO supports. A considerable correlation between the loading of Au25 nanoclusters and the photocatalytic activity was found. Compared with the pure ZnO nanospheres, the ZnO-Au25 nanocomposites exhibited more efficient photocatalytic activity in terms of degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in an aqueous solution. In addition, the possible photocatalytic mechanisms are discussed in this work. This strategy may be helpful for preparing other novel hybrid nanocomposites with well-defined structures and superior performances.

•  LaxCuyOz nanowire arrays with average diameters 90s and lengths 5μm have beenprepared..•LaxCuyOz nanowire arrays exhibit obvious magnetic anisotropic behavior.•Fluorescent intensity of Tb3+, Eu3+, Sm3+-doped products can be effective tuned by doping content.•The respective contribution of La and Cu elements to the fluorescent intensity was investigated.The amorphous LaxCuyOz nanowire arrays (NWAs) with average diameter 90 nm and lengths 5 μm have been prepared by chemical co-precipitation assisted by subatmospheric pressure suction filtration (SPSF) in porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. There is obvious magnetic anisotropy in LaxCuyOz NWAs, and unusual easily magnetized direction is perpendicular to the axis of nanowire. The tunable fluorescence of rare earth (Re=Tb, Eu, Sm) doped LaxCuyOz NWAs and the respective contribution of La and Cu to the fluorescence of NWAs were investigated, the results show that the fluorescent intensity of Eu, Tb, Sm-doped LaxCuyOz NWAs increased with accession of dopant contain different mole percents. The intensity of emission peaks gradually increased with Eu from 2 to 50 mol% at 591 nm, Sm from 2 to 50 mol% at 610 nm or achieved to maximum at 542 nm when doping content of Tb is 5 mol%. Furthermore, La exhibit facilitation or Cu present inhibition to fluorescent intensity of NWAs.