Silver nanoplates

Silver nanomaterials have unique physical, chemical and optical properties that are currently being leveraged for a wide variety of biological applications [1-9]. A resurgence of interest in the utility of silver as a broad based antimicrobial agent has led to the development of hundreds of products that incorporate silver nanoparticles to prevent bacterial growth on surfaces [1-4]. Additionally, silver nanoparticles have an optical color that is a function of the silver nanoparticle′s size and shape. The strong coupling of silver nanoparticles to specific wavelengths of incident light can be utilized to develop ultrabright reporter molecules [5-7], highly efficient thermal absorbers, and nanoscale “antennas” that can amplify the strength of the local electromagnetic field