To decipher the size and shape of the hybrid nanoparticles, and to find if the silver nanoparticles are assembled on the surface and not just formed in the colloidal form in the dispersion, samples from the colloidal dispersion were taken for TEM imaging. As can be seen in Figure , and h, silver nanoparticles were almost exclusively observed on the surfaces of cured HLNPs. These results further indicate that the phenolic hydroxyl groups on the surface of cured HLNPs are the starting seeds of reduction of silver ions and thereafter the growth of these reduced silver nuclei is restricted on the surfaces. In fact, no formation of metallic silver was observed when a sample of HLNPs with etherified phenolic hydroxyl groups was used in the silver reduction step (data not shown).