A facile and environmentally friendly approach was proposed to decorate Ag nanoparticles on melamine formaldehyde (MF) colloidal particles (MF/Ag composite microspheres). In this approach, monodisperse MF colloidal particles were prepared via a two-step organic sol-gel process and served as the active templates for the decoration of Ag nanoparticles. Then, the [Ag(NH3)(2)](+) ions as the Ag precursors can be adsorbed onto the surfaces of the MF colloidal particles and were in situ reduced into metallic Ag nanoparticles, forming MF/Ag composite microspheres. During this synthesis, neither presurface activation nor extra reductants were necessary. These MF/Ag composite microspheres can be used as the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates for the trace detection of organic compounds, e.g., 4-aminobenzenethiol (4-ABT) and penicillin G sodium. Furthermore, these MF/Ag composite microspheres also showed excellent antibacterial activities against both Escherichia coli (E. coli, gram negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, gram-positive bacteria). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Inc.