Description: The literature is dominated by studies on nanoparticles, organic ligands and polymers. However, studies on the design and preparation of hybrid materials that involve the surface-functionalization or embedding of nanoparticles with organic ligands or polymers is limited. The interaction of the two systems often leads to the emergence of new structural and electronic properties in the hybrid material. Therefore, understanding the effects of this nanoparticle-ligand or polymer interaction on the optical and magnetic properties of these materials is vital to designing efficient materials for solid state lighting, plasmonics and magnetism. Particularly, lanthanide(III)-containing materials provide an attractive avenue for achieving high color purity, high emission quantum yields, and long luminescence lifetimes for imaging and sensing applications. Therefore, this special issue focuses on the recent advances on hybrid materials consisting of nanoparticles that are surface-functionalized or embedded into polymers, including the recent advances on improvement in solid state lighting and dilute magnetic quantum dots. In addition, the current challenges in the design of hybrid materials are presented.

The aims and scope of this special issue include:

Aims and Scope: