This book is a compilation of carefully chosen chapters that cover the subjects of nanoscale matter, sensing, and labelling applications. It is aimed primarily at scientists and researchers who are already involved in theme-based research or who are just starting their careers. Despite the diverse nature of the topics covered, which include a range of materials in various forms and uses, the emphasis is primarily on sensing and labelling phenomena. The book begins with materials quantification in nanoscale systems by using an innovative technique like "molecular secondary ion mass spectrometry without calibration standards". Subsequently, the book features an array of materials such as inorganic semiconductor nanoscale particles, carbon dots, rare-earth oxides, polymer nanocomposites, and a few biomaterials, all of which illustrate their functionality and potential for deployment in a wide variety of sensing applications. Although the book delves into the technical aspects of fabrication workouts to some extent, the focus is predominantly on the physical principles, mechanisms, and relevance involved in sensing and labelling applications.

The book covers a wide range of topics that leverage the unique properties of nanoscale materials. By carefully selecting appropriate active materials, the authors explore the detection of LPG, hazardous and explosive gases, as well as humidity sensing and hydrogen evolution. It also delves into photo-sensing and persistent photoconductivity by using nanoscale semiconductors, which are used for heavy metal sensing and UV sensing, respectively. The use of metal nanoparticles in various forms is reviewed to address issues related to water contamination, biofilm protection, and food-borne pathogens. The book also discusses surface plasmon resonance, starting with its basic principles and expanding to its relevance in a broader perspective, with a greater focus on applied biosensing. Nanoscale ferrites and magnetic systems are explored with an emphasis on magnetic sensing and actuation. Lastly, the book explores the use of rare-earth-based nanosystems, highlighting persistent luminescence and up/down-converted transitions, which have unprecedented applications in bioimaging and biolabeling. Every effort has been made to strike a balance between the observed phenomena in the emerging areas of sensing applications and suitable theoretical treatments there in.

Autorentext

Dambarudhar Mohanta is Professor at the Department of Physics, Tezpur University, Assam, India. Prior to joining as Lecturer in Physics in the same university, he began his research career as Junior Research Fellow at the Department of Physics, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, for about a year. He obtained his Master's degree in Physics from Maharaja Purna Chandra College (Utkal University), and PhD from Tezpur University, respectively. Soon after his doctoral degree, he availed the Summer Teacher Fellowship and worked at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India. Later he availed teacher fellowship through the Indian Academy of Science to work at the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, India. He received the BOYSCAST Fellowship from DST-SERB, New Delhi, during 2007-2008 and worked at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He was also recipientof Indo-US Research Fellowship from IUSSTF, Fulbright house, New Delhi, during 2012-2013 and worked at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, USA. His research interest includes optoelectronic properties of nanoscale semiconductors and rare-earth oxides, 2D materials, radiation-induced phenomena, nano-bio interface, electrochemical and biosensing, biophotonics, and soft matter physics.

Purushottam Chakraborty is former Senior Professor of Physics at the Surface Physics and Materials Science Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India, and former Adjunct Professor of Physics, the University of Pretoria, South Africa. As a leading expert in materials analysis using ion beams, he was awarded the "Most Eminent Mass Spectrometrist of India" by the Indian Society for Mass Spectrometry and conferred with the Gold Medal by the Chairman, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, for his outstanding contributions in secondary ion mass spectrometry . He received the "Premchand Roychand Scholarship" and the "Mouat Medal" of the University of Calcutta. His research areas include atomic collisions in solids, ion-beam modifications and analysis, low-dimensional materials, optoelectronics, X-UV optics, nonlinear optics, photonics, etc. He indigenously designed and fabricated an RF-quadrupole mass spectrometer for the first time in India. His works on "metal-glass nanocomposites" have led to remarkable achievements in the development of novel photonic materials. Professor Chakraborty has worked at FOM - Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam, International Centre for Theoretical Physics and Padova University in Italy, Laval University in Canada, Osaka Electro-Communication University in Japan, University of Pretoria in South Africa, Friedrich Schiller University in Germany, Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, etc., as Visiting Professor of Physics.