Microbial colonization of high traffic surfacesburdens our society by causing significant cost tohuman lives and economy. The prevention ofmicrobes transmission remains a globalchallenge. The EU project RELIANCE aims todesign and develop an innovative smart responseself-disinfectant antimicrobial coatings that act bycontact killing and reduce therefore the spread ofinfections. The nanocoating consists of copper-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles modified with Antimicrobial Compounds such as peptidesextracted from keratin-rich waste streams.

• Various hydrolysis methods are evaluated on poultry waste and the best approaches for optimal antimicrobial activity are selected for larger scale production.• Several extracted AMP mixtures demonstrate antimicrobial activity and are further purified to isolate the most active peptide fractions.• Studies are ongoing to explore the anchoring of bioactive keratin-based peptides on the surface of mesoporous copper-silica nanoparticles.