Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics

The motivation of the research was to introduce nanocomposites with the polycarbonate (PC) thermoplastic as the matrix material, with biocidal capabilities and improved mechanical performance for the material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing (AM) technique. Such nanocomposites have not been in...

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Main Authors: Markos Petousis, Nektarios K. Nasikas, Vassilis Papadakis, Maria Spyridaki, Evangelos Sfakiotakis, Amalia Moutsopoulou, Apostolos Argyros, Evgenia Dimitriou, Nikolaos Michailidis, Nectarios Vidakis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Biomedical Engineering Advances
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667099225000167
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author Markos Petousis
Nektarios K. Nasikas
Vassilis Papadakis
Maria Spyridaki
Evangelos Sfakiotakis
Amalia Moutsopoulou
Apostolos Argyros
Evgenia Dimitriou
Nikolaos Michailidis
Nectarios Vidakis
author_facet Markos Petousis
Nektarios K. Nasikas
Vassilis Papadakis
Maria Spyridaki
Evangelos Sfakiotakis
Amalia Moutsopoulou
Apostolos Argyros
Evgenia Dimitriou
Nikolaos Michailidis
Nectarios Vidakis
author_sort Markos Petousis
collection DOAJ
description The motivation of the research was to introduce nanocomposites with the polycarbonate (PC) thermoplastic as the matrix material, with biocidal capabilities and improved mechanical performance for the material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing (AM) technique. Such nanocomposites have not been investigated so far. They would exploit the use of the PC thermoplastic and the MEX AM method in various types of applications with respective specifications, such as in the defense or security sector, in which PC is a popular thermoplastic already. We successfully synthesized a series of PC/antibacterial nanocomposites for the material extrusion 3D printing technique. The PC/antibacterial nanocomposites consisted of 2wt. % antibacterial nanopowder intervals (2–12wt. %). The as-prepared PC/antibacterial nanocomposite batches were converted into filaments and afterward 3D printed. The 3D printed materials were subjected to a series of experimental tests to determine their mechanical, thermal, rheological, physicochemical, morphological, structural, and biocidal properties, following the respective standards. The biocidal characterization of the various PC/antibacterial nanocomposites (agar well diffusion method, Mcfarland protocol) provided evidence that both the enhanced mechanical properties (29.1 % improvement of the tensile strength with 4 wt. % nanopowder loading) and biocidal activity (gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative Escherichia coli were tested) of the 3D printed PC/antibacterial nanocomposites are feasible. We have concluded that the maximization of the above-mentioned multifunctionalities can be achieved for moderate loadings of antibacterial nanopowder while the 3D printing of such PC/Antibacterial nanocomposites produces high-quality parts which can find important applications in the Defence and Security domain but also “dual – use” applications in the civil domain.
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spelling doaj-art-2092431a19484b1baf82fcbdca7d1fea2025-08-20T02:07:40ZengElsevierBiomedical Engineering Advances2667-09922025-06-01910016010.1016/j.bea.2025.100160Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metricsMarkos Petousis0Nektarios K. Nasikas1Vassilis Papadakis2Maria Spyridaki3Evangelos Sfakiotakis4Amalia Moutsopoulou5Apostolos Argyros6Evgenia Dimitriou7Nikolaos Michailidis8Nectarios Vidakis9Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion 71410, GreeceDivision of Mathematics and Engineering Sciences, Department of Military Sciences, Hellenic Army Academy, 16673 Vari, Attica, GreeceInstitute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (IESL-FORTH) – Hellas, N. Plastira 100m 70013 Heraklion, Greece; Department of Industrial Design and Production Engineering, University of West Attica, 122 43 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion 71410, GreeceDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion 71410, GreeceDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion 71410, GreecePhysical Metallurgy Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Research & Development of Advanced Materials (CERDAM), Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Centre, Building B’, 10th km Thessaloniki-Thermi road, 57001, Thessaloniki, GreecePhysical Metallurgy Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Research & Development of Advanced Materials (CERDAM), Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Centre, Building B’, 10th km Thessaloniki-Thermi road, 57001, Thessaloniki, GreecePhysical Metallurgy Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Research & Development of Advanced Materials (CERDAM), Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Centre, Building B’, 10th km Thessaloniki-Thermi road, 57001, Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion 71410, Greece; Corresponding author.The motivation of the research was to introduce nanocomposites with the polycarbonate (PC) thermoplastic as the matrix material, with biocidal capabilities and improved mechanical performance for the material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing (AM) technique. Such nanocomposites have not been investigated so far. They would exploit the use of the PC thermoplastic and the MEX AM method in various types of applications with respective specifications, such as in the defense or security sector, in which PC is a popular thermoplastic already. We successfully synthesized a series of PC/antibacterial nanocomposites for the material extrusion 3D printing technique. The PC/antibacterial nanocomposites consisted of 2wt. % antibacterial nanopowder intervals (2–12wt. %). The as-prepared PC/antibacterial nanocomposite batches were converted into filaments and afterward 3D printed. The 3D printed materials were subjected to a series of experimental tests to determine their mechanical, thermal, rheological, physicochemical, morphological, structural, and biocidal properties, following the respective standards. The biocidal characterization of the various PC/antibacterial nanocomposites (agar well diffusion method, Mcfarland protocol) provided evidence that both the enhanced mechanical properties (29.1 % improvement of the tensile strength with 4 wt. % nanopowder loading) and biocidal activity (gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative Escherichia coli were tested) of the 3D printed PC/antibacterial nanocomposites are feasible. We have concluded that the maximization of the above-mentioned multifunctionalities can be achieved for moderate loadings of antibacterial nanopowder while the 3D printing of such PC/Antibacterial nanocomposites produces high-quality parts which can find important applications in the Defence and Security domain but also “dual – use” applications in the civil domain.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S26670992250001673D printingPolycarbonate (PC)Antibacterial propertiesNanocompositesDefence materialsMechanical properties
spellingShingle Markos Petousis
Nektarios K. Nasikas
Vassilis Papadakis
Maria Spyridaki
Evangelos Sfakiotakis
Amalia Moutsopoulou
Apostolos Argyros
Evgenia Dimitriou
Nikolaos Michailidis
Nectarios Vidakis
Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics
Biomedical Engineering Advances
3D printing
Polycarbonate (PC)
Antibacterial properties
Nanocomposites
Defence materials
Mechanical properties
title Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics
title_full Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics
title_fullStr Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics
title_full_unstemmed Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics
title_short Polycarbonate/antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3D printing: Thermomechanical response, rheology, and biocidal metrics
title_sort polycarbonate antibacterial blend nanocomposites in material extrusion 3d printing thermomechanical response rheology and biocidal metrics
topic 3D printing
Polycarbonate (PC)
Antibacterial properties
Nanocomposites
Defence materials
Mechanical properties
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667099225000167
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