High virucidal potential of novel ceramic-metal composites fabricated via hybrid selective laser melting and spark plasma sintering routes

Ramin Rahmani; Katja Molan; Miha Brojan; Konda Gokuldoss Prashanth; David Stopar

doi:10.1007/s00170-022-08878-x

High virucidal potential of novel ceramic-metal composites fabricated via hybrid selective laser melting and spark plasma sintering routes

Int J Adv Manuf Technol. 2022;120(1-2):975-988. doi: 10.1007/s00170-022-08878-x. Epub 2022 Feb 8.

Authors

Ramin Rahmani^{1

2}, Katja Molan³, Miha Brojan², Konda Gokuldoss Prashanth^{1

4

5}, David Stopar³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia.
² Laboratory for Nonlinear Mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
³ Department of Microbiology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
⁴ Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science, Austrian Academy of Science, Jahnstraße 12, 8700 Leoben, Austria.
⁵ CBCMT, School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, 632014 Vellore, Tamil Nadu India.

Abstract

In this work, we combine selective laser melting (SLM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) to fabricate new materials with high virucidal potential. Various bioactive disc-shaped ceramics, metal alloys, and composites were fabricated and tested against bacteriophage Phi6-a model system for RNA-enveloped viruses. We prepared silver-doped titanium dioxide (TiO₂ + 2.5‒10% Ag), copper-doped titanium dioxide (TiO₂ + 2.5‒10% Cu), Cu2NiSiCr, and Cu15Ni8Sn composite materials (metal lattices filled with ceramics). The virucidal tests of the ceramic and metal powders were performed in buffered suspensions, while the surfaces of the discs were tested by swabbing. The results show that the virus titer on the TiO₂ + 10% Ag ceramic and CuNi2SiCr metal discs decreased by 4 logs after 15 min of exposure to the surfaces compared to the control ceramic and steel discs. We show that SLM 3D printed pre-alloyed CuNi2SiCr filled with bioactive TiO₂ + 10% Ag nanopowders and sintered by the SPS process combines the simplicity of printing with the strength and virucidal properties of Ag and Cu materials. The proposed new virucidal materials were also used for the fabrication of prototype elevator buttons.

Keywords: Phi6 virus; Powder bed fusion; Selective laser melting; Spark plasma sintering; Virucidal materials.