s Lanthanide Doped Complexes and Organometallic Clusters: Design Strategies and their Applications in Biology and Photonics

In this review, we discuss the rational design of a new class of lanthanide-doped organometallic nanostructured materials called 'molecular minerals'. Molecular minerals are nanostructured materials with a ceramic core made from chalcogenide groups and other heavy metals. Part of the central core atoms is replaced by suitable lanthanide atoms to impart fluorescent spectral properties. The ceramic core is surrounded by various types of organic networks thus making the structure partly ceramic and organic. The central core has superior optical properties and the surrounding organic ligand makes it easy to dissolve several kinds of organic solvents and fluoropolymers to make several kinds of active and passive photonic devices. This chapter starts with elaborate design strategies of lanthanidebased near-infrared emitting materials followed by the experimental results of selected near-infrared emitting lanthanide clusters. Finally, their potential applications in telecommunication, light-emitting diodes and medical imaging are discussed.