Clusters—between Atoms and Nanoparticles
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 1494
Special Issue Editor
Interests: nanoparticles; nanomaterielas; clusters; metalorganic; complexes; kinetics; catalyst; metal determination; separation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, alongside metallic nanoparticles, a new trend related to the application of metal clusters has been observed. The growing interest in nanoclusters, and in particular, gold nanoclusters (AuNCs), is related to their unique molecule-like properties and the biocompatibility of AuNCs. The term “cluster” is defined as a small object consisting of several to 100 gold atoms with a total diameter below 2 nm. Contrary to particles with a larger size (>2 nm), AuNCs have no plasmon resonance effect. Moreover, AuNCs can be considered molecules due to the effects of quantum confinement, in which the conduction band is significantly quantized. Gold clusters containing a core size comparable to the Fermi wavelength of an electron, i.e., 5 Å, are characterized by fluorescence. This effect is observed as a result of light being absorbed of a certain energy, which excites electrons and causes them to move to higher energy levels. The consequence of this process is an energy release in the form of light, but with a lower energy than the length of light that causes excitation. Taking this into account, AuNCs absorb light in the wavelength range of 650 to 900 nm (this range is also called a therapeutic window of tissues), and they find application in, for example, cancer diagnostics. Despite the increasing number of publications on this topic, most of them focus on the application of gold nanoclusters in the context of fluorescence properties rather than kinetics and the mechanism of their formation. However, this basic knowledge can help us to comprehend in further detail the process of nanoparticle formation in complex forms, including clusters and small and larger particles.
Taking into account the above-mentioned aspects, this Special Issue welcome papers related to any aspect of metallic clusters, including those addressing the process of their formation, kinetic and mechanism studies, properties, and applications.
Dr. Magdalena Luty-Błocho
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- metallic clusters
- kinetic
- mechanism of cluster formation
- properties
- applications
