# Special Issue on Nano-Systems for Antimicrobial Therapy
## 2 In This Issue  
Looking into the plethora of shapes of nano-objects which can be synthesized, 1-D materials are gaining an increasing attention because of the multiplicity of interesting proprieties. Silver nanowires, for example, can be used in a wide range of biomedical applications, besides having useful optical and conductivity features. The review reported in this Special Issue describes the state of the art ofsilver nanowires research, at the same time showing the potential of this material to become even more effective than other silver nano-objects and encouraging more interest in this specific morphology of nano-structured silver [15].  
Among the scaffolds which can be used to support or embed antibacterial nanoparticles, electrospun nanofibers have gained a prominent importance in the last decade, mainly because of their easy and low-cost realization, the wide range of polymeric materials which can be used, and the possibility of including active components. The review here reported critically describes the literature published on this topic, with a particular attention to the inclusion of inorganic nanoparticles with well-known antibacterial properties [16].  
Another interesting strategy to support nanoparticles is the preparation of composite nanomaterials. This allows to join together the typical antibacterial features of loaded nanoparticles with the peculiar properties of the chosen supporting material: porous carbon materials loaded with silver nanoparticles can be considered as a smart example of this strategy. In the example provided in this Special Issue, the large specific area, nature of micropores, and absorption performances typical of exfoliated graphite were used to prepare a new antibacterial composite loaded with silver nanoparticles [17].  
Another possibility to obtain antibacterial materials and surfaces is to combine materials with antimicrobial functions with surfaces having antiadhesive properties. It is known that strongly hydrophilic surfaces may render the adhesion of proteins and bacteria extremely difficult by forming a hydration layer [18]; in addition, super-hydrophobicity of surfaces was widely described as a tool which can be exploited for the same task. In this perspective, the idea to exploit biosynthesized surfactants can be considered a promising approach to coat biomedical implants in order to inhibit biofilm formation, and one important contribution to this field is reported in this Special Issue [19].  
Switching from nanoparticles to coordination compounds, it has been demonstrated, since the rise of coordination chemistry, that metal ions containing complexes can often act as microbicidal agents, both in solution and grafted on surfaces [20], and thus the search for new drugs in this class is advisable. In the example reported in this Special Issue, nanotechnology was involved using magnetic NP as catalysts for the synthesis of Schiff base ligands employed in the formation of new cobalt complexes, which showed an interesting antibacterial activity [21].  
As explicitly pointed out in the review from [PERSON] and coworkers here reported [22], many challenges still await to be addressed by the multidisciplinary scientific community which is involved in the battle towards bacterial infection and biofilms growth: understanding of the mechanisms of antibacterial action, evaluation of long-term interactions of nanomaterials with the human body, reproducibility and scalability of the preparations for a large-scale use, just to name a few. Nevertheless, authors state that antimicrobial nano-systems \"hold a great potential for future developments, and their impact on the healthcare systems will be considerable\", and we have to agree with them.  
This research received no external funding.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.