Hypothesis: Heterogeneous nucleation of silver oxide (Ag2O) onto oxide microparticles (OMPs) followed by spontaneous thermal decomposition produce nanostructures made of OMPs decorated with silver nanoparticles (OMP vertical bar AgNPs). Experiments: Colloidal chemistry methods have been used to produce the decoration of OMPs with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), by carrying out the Ag2O precipitation/thermal decomposition. The process is driven in water enriched acetone medium containing NaOH, NH3, AgNO3 and SiO(2)MPs as substrate. Optical and morphological properties of OMP vertical bar AgNPs were characterized by using STEM, EDS, HRTEM and Raman spectroscopy. Findings: Anew synthetic method to decorate OMPs (TiO2, SiO2) with metallic AgNPs in a single step/single pot reaction is proven effective to produce OMP vertical bar AgNPs either in aqueous or water enriched media. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.