The successful synthesis of polymeric AuNPs was easily observed visually by its wine-red colour. It was also confirmed by Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-vis) using NanoDrop™ The gold cores of the polymer-templated gold nanoparticle constructs were imaged by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (JEOL JEM-2100F). Samples were prepared by pipetting nanoparticle solution (10 μL, 3.4 mg/ml) onto holey-carbon grids. The solution was kept on the grid for 2 mins, then excess liquid was removed from the backside using filter paper, before overnight drying (room temperature). Additionally, negative staining with uranium acetate was used to visualize the polymer corona around the gold core. The TEM grid was glow discharged by Fischione NanoClean model 1070 before use.10 μL polymer solution was pipetted on to the glow discharged grid, left for 2 mins and removed extra polymer solution from the backside using filter paper. The grid was then negatively stained by one drop of 2% w/v uranyl acetate for 60s. the stained TEM grid was air dry for at least 1h at room temperature before use.