Cresol-formaldehyde resins are versatile polymer having numerous applications in ion exchange, catalysis, supercapacitors, photoresistant materials, etc. Here, we first report a new nanostructured non-crystalline cresol-formaldehyde material NCF-1, synthesized through hydrothermal condensation of m-cresol and formaldehyde at 363 K under mild alkaline condition in the presence of supramolecular assembly of cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as structure directing agent (SDA). The material was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, TEM, TG-DTA, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. TEM image analysis revealed nanorod morphology of NCF-1 material with diameter of the rods 30-50 nm and disordered wormhole-like nanostructure with pores of ca. 2.5 nm. These composite materials exhibit photoluminescence property at room temperature, which could be utilized for the fabrication of novel organic optical devices. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.