The synthesis and photoluminescence properties of the SiC quantum dots (QDs)/cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) multilayered vesicle core/shell nanostructures are reported. The Coulomb attraction force between the negatively charged surface of the QD and the positively charged ionized CTAB molecules drives the formation of the core/shell nanostructures. The outer CTAB molecules are demonstrated to form multilayered vesicles. The core/shell nanostructures exhibit strong near-UV photoluminescence which is supposed to stem from the outer CTAB vesicles. This novel semiconductor QD/vesicle core/shell structures can serve as a prototype for studying the QD-organic molecule interaction as well as the building block for constructing nanoscale devices. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.