doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2018.04.004engFranco Castillo, IsabelDe Matteis, LauraMarquina, ClaraGarcía Guillén, EstherMartínez de la Fuente, JesúsMitchell, Scott G.Protection of 18th century paper using antimicrobial nano-magnesium oxideART-2019-106573Magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NPs) have attracted considerable interest as antimicrobial agents in a wide variety of applications. We report a simple synthetic route towards MgO NPs (average diameter 10 nm) possessing potent antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Detailed electron microscopy studies show how these particles induce oxidative stress, cell membrane leakage and cell death in bacteria at low NP concentrations, but remain non-toxic to eukaryotic cells. Applying a homogeneous dispersion of these nanoparticles on 18th century paper proved to be a highly effective means of preventing bacterial colonisation without altering the appearance of the paper samples, thus opening the doors to the use of these colourless, low-cost, and scalable nanoparticles for preventing biodeterioration in a range of paper-based objects and surfaces.2019http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/13075310.1016/j.ibiod.2018.04.004http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/130753oai:zaguan.unizar.es:130753INTERNATIONAL BIODETERIORATION & BIODEGRADATION 141 (2019), 79-86by-nc-ndhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess