Electronic transfer as a route to increase the chemical stability in gold and silver core-shell nanoparticles

This review article presents the collected recent findings and advancements in understanding and manipulating the electronic properties of the Au/Ag NP system from the standpoint of controlling the characteristics of heterostructured core-shell NPs. The discovery of the electronic transfer effect through analysis of both Ag-Au and Au-Ag type NPs inspired the analysis of the resulting enhanced properties. First, the background on the synthesis and characterization of Ag, Au, Ag-Au, Au-Ag and Au-Ag-Au NPs, which will be used as a basis for studying the electronic transfer and stability properties is presented. Next, Mie Theory is used to inspect the optical properties of the Ag-Au NPs, revealing subtle structural characteristics in these probes, which has implications to the plasmonic properties. This is followed by the inspection of the electronic properties of the Au-Ag NPs primarily through XPS and XANES analysis, revealing the origins of the electronic transfer phenomenon. The unique electronic properties are then revealed to result in improved particle stability in terms of susceptibility to oxidation. Finally, an assessment of the resulting enhanced plasmonic sensing properties is discussed. The results are presented in terms of synthesis technique, material characterization, understanding of the electronic properties and manipulation of those properties to create Au-Ag NPs with enhanced resistance to oxidation and galvanic replacement.