Metal Nanoparticles 2012

Dear Colleagues,

Metal nanoparticles are one cornerstones of modern nanotechnology. Many of the current and future applications of the field are based on metal nanoparticles. For instance in the biomedical area Gold nanoparticles have long been used for research. Silver nanoparticles antibacterial properties are now incorporated in many commercial products worldwide. Despite of vast research on the field many problems remain outstanding and pose very important scientific and technological challenges. In this Special Issue we call authors to send contributions on the following topics:

• Advances on controlled synthesis of metal nanoparticles: The era in which any synthesis method was acceptable is over. There is a need of increasing the control on the size, shape and crystalline structure of the nanoparticles. The report of reproducible synthesis methods implies a more detailed description of parameters.
• New characterization methods for nanoparticles: It is necessary to learn more about the exact structure of the nanoparticles. Is there any internal stress? Can we measure the internal stress? Is there different crystallography for the same metal? What is the composition of the surface of the nanoparticles? This and other questions may require advanced characterization methods such as aberration corrected electron microscopy, EELS, atomically resolved EDS, Raman, XPS, etc.
• New shapes and metals. Most of papers have dealt with Au, Ag, Cu, Pd and Pt. We welcome papers on metal nanoparticles which have been scarcely explored such as Bi, Pb and all transition metals. We also encourage the report of new shapes of nanoparticles.
• Properties of nanoparticles: Especially related to applications in biomedicine and diagnosis methods. SERS applications are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Miguel Jose Yacaman
Guest Editor