Dr. K. Rajendra Kumar, Senior Assistant Professor, Chemistry Division, School of Advanced Sciences is the Principal Investigator of the DST-SERB project, entitled, “Design and Development of Polymer Based Diagnostic Tools for Bioluminescent Imaging Using Controlled Radical Polymerization Techniques”.This project was for a period of 3 years (2013-2017) with a sanctioned amount of 39.22 lakhs. This work is basically focused on the use of small molecule and macromolecular luminescent products for imaging and sensing applications. Luminol, a widely used chemiluminescent molecule for chemo and biosensing. A symmetrical azo derivative of luminol (AzoLum) was synthesized and employed as a trimodal, selective and sensitive sensor for Hg2+ ions in water (Level of detection = 0.4 ppb). The three modes of mercury sensing include, change in cis-trans isomerization, fluorescence quenching and Chemiluminescence enhancement.