Vidakis Nectarios, Petousis Markos, Velidakis Emmanuel, Korlos Apostolos, Kechagias John D, Tsikritzis Dimitris, Mountakis Nikolaos
Mechanical Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Estavromenos, 71410 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, International Hellenic University, 14th Km Thessaloniki-N. Moudania, 57001 Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jan 22;14(3):440. doi: 10.3390/polym14030440.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, wide use of 3D printing technologies has been enabled. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is the most widely used technique in 3D printing communities worldwide for the fabrication of medical components such as face shields and respiratory valves. In the current study, the potential of Polyamide 12 (PA12) silver-doped antibacterial nanopowder (AgDANP) nanocomposites is evaluated for everyday FFF usage. Filling loadings of 1.0-2.0-3.0 and 4.0 wt.% were selected for nanocomposite preparation. Mechanical performance analysis was conducted on the basis of tensile, flexural, impact, and Vickers microhardness measurements in FFF 3D-printed specimens. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images were used for morphology and processing evaluation, as well as thermal performance measurements, conducted by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) tests. Finally, the antibacterial performance was tested using the agar-well diffusion screening method, and the shape effect of the specimens was also investigated. The addition of 2.0 wt.% AgDANPs resulted in an enhancement of approximately 27% for both tensile and flexural stresses, while the antibacterial performance was sufficiently high among the nanocomposites tested. The shape effect exhibited the potential for antibacterial performance at low filling ratios, while the effect was diminished with increasing filler of AgDANPs.
在新冠疫情期间，3D打印技术得到了广泛应用。熔融沉积成型（FFF）是全球3D打印领域中应用最广泛的技术，用于制造面罩和呼吸阀等医疗部件。在本研究中，评估了聚酰胺12（PA12）银掺杂抗菌纳米粉末（AgDANP）纳米复合材料在日常FFF应用中的潜力。选择1.0-2.0-3.0和4.0 wt.%的填充量来制备纳米复合材料。基于对FFF 3D打印试样的拉伸、弯曲、冲击和维氏显微硬度测量进行力学性能分析。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）图像用于形态和加工评估，以及通过热重分析（TGA）测试进行热性能测量。最后，使用琼脂孔扩散筛选法测试抗菌性能，并研究试样的形状效应。添加2.0 wt.%的AgDANP使拉伸应力和弯曲应力均提高了约27%，而在所测试的纳米复合材料中，抗菌性能足够高。形状效应在低填充率下显示出抗菌性能的潜力，而随着AgDANP填料的增加，这种效应减弱。
