Superhalogens and Superalkalis: Bonding, Reactivity, Dynamics and Applications (Atoms, Molecules, and Clusters)

Superhalogens and Superalkalis is a comprehensive volume designed as the go-to resource on the exciting and evolving topics of these special classes of atomic clusters and the acid salt that results from their interactions. The book details how these substances possess not only unusual structures but also unique properties which can be exploited for various applications.

Superhalogens’ strong oxidizing capacity, resulting from their high-electron affinity, leads to their applications in the design of superacids, organic superconductors, and ionic liquids. The low ionization energy of superalkalis enables them to act as strong reducing agents, making them useful in the design of superbases and alkalides. Illustrated throughout, this timely book provides an overview of the research and development on these and other aspects of superhalogen and superalkalis.

Key features:

• Offers a basic introduction of superatoms that is accessible for readers to understand
• Includes extensive study questions after each chapter
• Provides a systematic presentation of the existing literature on this increasingly trending topic
• Presents the latest developments in the field, offering readers state-of-art knowledge

This book is a key reference guide for graduate students, postdocs, upper-level undergraduate students, academic professionals, and researchers who are interested in this fascinating topic.

Dr. Pratim Kumar Chattaraj is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Birla Institute of Technology Mesra. Formerly he was an Institute Chair Professor at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. He received his PhD from IIT Bombay. He was a research associate in the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, and FAU, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. He has been actively engaged in research in the areas of density functional theory, ab-initio calculations, nonlinear dynamics, aromaticity in metal clusters, hydrogen storage, noble gas compounds, machine learning, confinement, fluxionality, chemical reactivity and quantum trajectories. He was honored with: University Gold and Bardhaman Sammilani medals; INSA (Young Scientist) medal; CRSI Bronze and Silver medals; IAAM medal; Associate, Indian Academy of Sciences; BM Birla Science Prize; BC Deb Memorial award; Institute Chair Professorship Award (IIT Kharagpur) ; Acharya P.C.Ray Memorial Award (Indian Chemical Society); Professor Sadhan Basu Memorial Lecture Award of INSA; Professor R.P.Mitra Memorial Lecture Award, Delhi Univ.; Professor S.K.Siddhanta Memorial Lecture Award, Burdwan Univ.; Professor Prafulla Chandra Ray Memorial Lecture award (NASI). He is a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Italy, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, Indian Natl. Science Academy; Indian Academy of Sciences; National Academy of Sciences, India; West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology; and FWO, Belgium. He is a Sir J.C. Bose National Fellow. He was Convener, Center for Theoretical Studies, Convener, Kharagpur Local Chapter, INSA, Council member of CRSI, Member, Joint Science Education Panel of  Science Academies of India, Dean (Faculty) and Head of the Chemistry Department of IIT Kharagpur. He was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of IIT Bombay. He was in the Editorial Board of a number of journals published by the American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Frontiers Group, etc. Several of his papers have become hot/most accessed/most cited/cover/Editors’ choice articles.

Dr. Ambrish Kumar Srivastava is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics in Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, India. He was a Junior Research Fellow (with All India Rank 18) and Senior Research Fellow of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India. He earned his Ph.D. on the topic entitled “Computational Studies on Biologically Active Molecules and Small Clusters: DFT and TDDFT Approaches” from the University of Lucknow, India, and subsequently, worked as a National Postdoctoral Fellow of the Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB) at D.D.U. Gorakhpur University. He has published over 120 research papers in various journals of international repute with an h-index of 24 and a citation index of 1750. In addition, he has authored/edited 4 books and 2 more books are under preparation for Taylor & Francis/CRC Press. He is an active reviewer for various leading journals and reviewed more than 40 research papers so far. He is an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Physics for the section Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics and also serves on the Editorial Board of a few journals. He is a member of various scientific societies and organizations including the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Indian Chemical Society, Materials Research Society of India, etc. He has recently received the prestigious NASI-Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award – 2022 from the National Academy of Sciences, India. His broad research interests include Superatomic Clusters, Computational Materials Science, and Biophysics.