Plasmonic biocompatible silver-gold alloyed nanoparticles.

The addition of Au during scalable synthesis of nanosilver drastically minimizes its surface oxidation and leaching of toxic Ag(+) ions. These biocompatible and inexpensive silver-gold nanoalloyed particles exhibit superior plasmonic performance than commonly used pure Au nanoparticles, and as such these nanoalloys have great potential in theranostic applications.