Luminescent Metal Nanoclusters

Sabu Thomas is a Senior Professor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India, and also Chairman of the TrEST Research Park, Trivandrum, India. He is known for his outstanding contributions in polymer science and nanotechnology. Kuruvilla Joseph is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India. His research areas includes nanomaterials and nanocomposites, polymer blends and composites, synthesis of polymers from natural resources, green materials and biocomposites, aging and degradation, and development of biosensors. Dr. Saritha Appukuttan was awarded her PhD from Mahatma Gandhi University in 2012 working in the field of polymer nanocomposites. She has also been worked for two years on the development of gas barrier membranes on an ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) project. She has published around 25 book chapters with highly reputed publishers and several research papers in high impact international journals such as Composites Part A, Composites Part B, and Materials Chemistry and Physics and has edited two books on “Fibre Reinforced Composites: Constituents, compatibility, perspectives and applications” (Elsevier) and on “Luminescent Metal Nanoclusters” (Elsevier). Currently, she is editing two more books on “Lignin and its Composites: A sustainable tool for health care and medical applications” and “Zero-Dimensional Carbon Nanostructures” to be published by RSC and Elsevier, respectively. Meegle S. Mathew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam, India. Her research interests cover nano-biophotonics, optical imaging, the development of biosensors and biomedical devices using fluorescent nanoparticles, polymer nanocomposites for biomedical applications, photocatalysis, and photoreduction.

1. General introduction—luminescent metal nanoclusters
2. Methods of synthesis of metal nanoclusters
3. Analytical tools for the characterization and quantification of metal nanoclusters
4. Mass spectrometry and metal nanoclusters
5. Origin of luminescence of metal nanoclusters
6. General purification methods of metal nanoclusters
7. Phosphine and thiol protected metal nanoclusters
8. Polymer- and dendrimer-protected metal nanoclusters
9. DNA-protected metal nanoclusters
10. Peptide-protected metal nanoclusters
11. Protein and enzyme protected metal nanoclusters
12. Alloy nanoclusters-synthesis methods and structural evaluation
13. Self-assembly of metal nanoclusters in colloid science
14. Applications of metallic nanoclusters in bioimaging
15. Biomarker sensing using luminescent metal nanoclusters
16. Environmental applications of luminescent metal nanoclusters
17. Therapeutic applications of metal nanoclusters
18. Stimuli-responsive metal nanoclusters for targeted drug and gene delivery and their biomedical applications
19. Antimicrobial properties of metal nanoclusters
20. Metal nanoclusters as photosensitizers
21. Metal nanoclusters for catalytic applications: synthesis and characterization
22. Metal nanoclusters for energy storage applications
23. Bioavailability, biodistribution, and toxicity of fluorescent metal nanoclusters
24. Luminescent Metal Nanoclusters: Summary and future outlook