Micro/nano-porous SiOC foams with narrow pore size distribution were fabricated by pyrolysis of polymeric gels prepared from mixtures of crosslinkable polysiloxane PSO and methyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane PDMS. By simply changing the viscosity of the PDMS or its mass ratio in the mixed polymers, the pore sizes and porosities of the porous SiOC materials could be adjusted in the range from 10 nm to 3 μm, and 20% to 90%, respectively.

Two dendritic organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with eight silole units covalently bonded to a POSS core were prepared via a one-step hydrosilylation reaction. These hybrid nanomaterials exhibited aggregation-enhanced emission phenomenon, and displayed outstanding thermal stability and high fluorescence quantum yield. The emissions of these nanoaggregates were selectively quenched by 2,4,6-trinitrophenol. The high selectivity of the sensors was attributed to the combined effects of electron and energy transfer processes. These novel hybrid nanomaterials have the potential to prepare sensitive, selective, and stable sensors for the detection of explosives in aqueous media.