Professor Sabu Thomas is currently an Emeritus Professor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. He is a Senior Professor of Christ University, Bangalore, India. He is also a visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, IIT Roorkee, India. He is the Chairman of the TrEST Research Park, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The H index of Professor Thomas is 163 and he has more than 133,000 citationsKuruvilla Joseph is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India. His research areas include 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. Dr Meegle S. Mathew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Mar Athanasius College, India. Her research focuses on the development and application of functional nanomaterials for biomedical, energy, and environmental technologies. Her areas of expertise include nano-biophotonics, optical imaging, fluorescent nanoparticle-based biosensors and biomedical devices, polymer nanocomposites, photocatalysis, nanopriming, and photoreduction. She has conducted postdoctoral research on advanced nanomaterials and photocatalytic systems and has contributed to scholarly publications, edited volumes, book chapters, and intellectual property in these fields. Her work emphasizes the design of innovative nanomaterial-based solutions for healthcare, sustainable energy, and environmental applications.

• 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 nanoclusters6. General purification methods of metal nanoclusters7. Phosphine and thiol protected metal nanoclusters 8. Polymer- and dendrimer-protected metal nanoclusters 9. DNA-protected metal nanoclusters10. Peptide-protected metal nanoclusters 11. Protein and enzyme protected metal nanoclusters 12. Alloy nanoclusters-synthesis methods and structural evaluation13. Self-assembly of metal nanoclusters in colloid science 14. Applications of metallic nanoclusters in bioimaging15. 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 applications19. Antimicrobial properties of metal nanoclusters 20. Metal nanoclusters as photosensitizers 21. Metal nanoclusters for catalytic applications: synthesis and characterization22. Metal nanoclusters for energy storage applications 23. Bioavailability, biodistribution, and toxicity of fluorescent metal nanoclusters24. Luminescent Metal Nanoclusters: Summary and future outlook

Professor Sabu Thomas is currently an Emeritus Professor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. He is a Senior Professor of Christ University, Bangalore, India. He is also a visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, IIT Roorkee, India. He is the Chairman of the TrEST Research Park, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The H index of Professor Thomas is 163 and he has more than 133,000 citationsKuruvilla Joseph is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India. His research areas include 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. Dr Meegle S. Mathew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Mar Athanasius College, India. Her research focuses on the development and application of functional nanomaterials for biomedical, energy, and environmental technologies. Her areas of expertise include nano-biophotonics, optical imaging, fluorescent nanoparticle-based biosensors and biomedical devices, polymer nanocomposites, photocatalysis, nanopriming, and photoreduction. She has conducted postdoctoral research on advanced nanomaterials and photocatalytic systems and has contributed to scholarly publications, edited volumes, book chapters, and intellectual property in these fields. Her work emphasizes the design of innovative nanomaterial-based solutions for healthcare, sustainable energy, and environmental applications.

• 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 nanoclusters6. General purification methods of metal nanoclusters7. Phosphine and thiol protected metal nanoclusters 8. Polymer- and dendrimer-protected metal nanoclusters 9. DNA-protected metal nanoclusters10. Peptide-protected metal nanoclusters 11. Protein and enzyme protected metal nanoclusters 12. Alloy nanoclusters-synthesis methods and structural evaluation13. Self-assembly of metal nanoclusters in colloid science 14. Applications of metallic nanoclusters in bioimaging15. 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 applications19. Antimicrobial properties of metal nanoclusters 20. Metal nanoclusters as photosensitizers 21. Metal nanoclusters for catalytic applications: synthesis and characterization22. Metal nanoclusters for energy storage applications 23. Bioavailability, biodistribution, and toxicity of fluorescent metal nanoclusters24. Luminescent Metal Nanoclusters: Summary and future outlook