MgO Antibacterial Properties: Fewer Defects in the Surface Slows the Hydrolysis Rate, Decreases the ROS Generation Potential, and Improves the Non‐ROS Antimicrobial Activity of MgO (Small 26/2018)

In article number 1800205, Marija Vukomanović and co-workers determine the impact of native surface defects on different MgO powders to a non-reactive-oxygen-species (ROS), contact-based mechanism of antibacterial activity. A reduction in the abundance of low-coordinated oxygen atoms on the surface of the MgO improves its resistance to both hydrolysis and antibacterial activity. ROS generation potential, is not an inherent property of the studied MgO, rather it is a side product of hydrolysis and/or a consequence of the MgO/bacteria interaction.