In-Plate and On-Plate Structural Control of Ultra-Stable Gold/Silver Bimetallic Nanoplates as Redox Catalysts, Nanobuilding Blocks, and Single-Nanoparticle Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Probes

Noble metal bimetallic nanomaterials have attracted a great deal of attention owing to the strong correlation between their morphology and chemical and physical properties. Even though the synthetic strategies for controlling the shapes of monometallic nanomaterials such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag) are well-developed, limited advances have been made with Au/Ag bimetallic nanomaterials to date. In this work, we demonstrate a highly complex in-plate and on-plate structural control of Au/Ag bimetallic nanoplates (Au/AgBNPLs) in contrast to conventional, simply structured, 1D and 2D, branched, and polyhedral nanomaterials. The polymer used in the synthesis of seeds plays a critical role in controlling the structure of the Au/AgBNPLs. The Au/AgBNPLs exhibit exceptionally high chemical stability against various chemical etchants and a versatile catalytic reactivity with biologically and environmentally relevant chemical species. Significantly, the reversible assembly formation of the Au/AgBNPLs is demonstrated by carrying out the surface-functionalization of the materials with thiol DNA, emphasizing the potential applications of the Au/AgBNPLs in various diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Finally, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) properties of the Au/AgBNPLs are experimentally and theoretically investigated, demonstrating a substantial potential of the Au/AgBNPLs as single-nanoparticle SERS probes. Electron microscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy are employed to analyze the structure and composition of the Au/AgBNPLs at the atomic level.