A facile one-pot microemulsion method has been developed for the synthesis of spherical silver core–silica shell (Ag@SiO2) nanoparticles with europium chelates doped in the shell through a silane agent. The method is significantly more straightforward than other extant methods. Measurements of the luminescent emissions from the Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles, in comparison with control silica nanoparticles without silver cores, showed that the presence of the silver cores can increase the fluorescence intensity approximately 24-fold and decrease the luminescence lifetime. This enhancement offers a potential increase in overall particle detectability with increased fluorophore photostability.
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