TY - JOUR A1 - Duarte Bernardino, Carolina A1 - Lee, Mihyun A1 - Ren, Qun A1 - Ruehle, Bastian T1 - Facile Spray-Coating of Antimicrobial Silica Nanoparticles for High-Touch Surface Protection N2 - The rising threat from infectious pathogens poses an ever-growing challenge. Metal-based nanomaterials have gained a great deal of attention as active components in antimicrobial coatings. Here, we report on the development of readily deployable, sprayable antimicrobial surface coatings for high-touch stainless steel surfaces that are ubiquitous in many healthcare facilities to combat the spread of pathogens. We synthesized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with different surface functional groups, namely, amine (MSN-NH2), carboxy (MSN-COOH), and thiol groups (MSN-SH). These were chosen specifically due to their high affinity to copper and silver ions, which were used as antimicrobial payloads and could be incorporated into the mesoporous structure through favorable host−guest interactions, allowing us to find the most favorable combinations to achieve antimicrobial efficacy against various microbes on dry or semidry high-touch surfaces. The antimicrobial MSNs were firmly immobilized on stainless steel through a simple two-step spray-coating process. First, the stainless steel surfaces are primed with sprayable polyelectrolyte solutions acting as adhesion layers, and then, the loaded nanoparticle dispersions are spray-coated on top. The employed polyelectrolytes were selected and functionalized specifically to adhere well to stainless steel substrates while at the same time being complementary to the MSN surface groups to enhance the adhesion, wettability, homogeneity, and stability of the coatings. The antimicrobial properties of the nanoparticle suspension and the coatings were tested against three commonly found pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, as well as a fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Especially MSN-SH loaded with silver ions showed excellent antimicrobial efficacy against all tested pathogens under application-relevant, (semi)dry conditions. The findings obtained here facilitate our understanding of the correlation between the surface properties, payloads, and antimicrobial activity and show a new pathway toward simple and easily deployable solutions to combat the spread of pathogens with the help of sprayable antimicrobial surface coatings. KW - Mesoporous silica nanoparticles KW - Thin films KW - Antimicrobial coatings KW - Spray-coating KW - Infectious diseases KW - Pathogen transmission KW - High-touch surfaces PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626269 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c18916 SN - 1944-8252 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-62626 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bramke, K. A1 - Müller, U. A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter A1 - Rolff, J. T1 - Exposure of Larvae of the Solitary Bee Osmia bicornis to the Honey Bee Pathogen Nosema ceranae Aects Life History N2 - Wild bees are important pollinators of wild plants and agricultural crops and they are threatened by several environmental stressors including emerging pathogens. Honey bees have been suggested as a potential source of pathogen spillover. One prevalent pathogen that has recently emerged as a honey bee disease is the microsporidian Nosema ceranae. While the impacts of N. ceranae in honey bees are well documented, virtually nothing is known about its effects in solitary wild bees. The solitary mason bee Osmia bicornis is a common pollinator in orchards and amenable to Commercial management. Here, we experimentally exposed larvae of O. bicornis to food contaminated with N. ceranae and document spore presence during larval development. We measured mortality, growth parameters, and timing of pupation in a semi-field experiment. Hatched individuals were assessed for physiological state including fat body mass, wing muscle mass, and body size. We recorded higher mortality in the viable-spore-exposed group but could only detect a low number of Spores among the individuals of this treatment. Viable-spore-treated individuals with higher head capsule width had a delayed pupation start. No impact on the physiological status could be detected in hatched imagines. Although we did not find overt evidence of O. bicornis infection, our findings indicate that exposure of larvae to viable N. ceranae spores could affect bee development. KW - Bee diseases KW - Wild bees KW - Nosema ceranae KW - Osmia bicornis KW - Pathogen transmission KW - Solitary bees KW - Bee health PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-496497 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10110380 VL - 10 IS - 11 SP - 380 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-49649 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -