A Comprehensive Evaluation of Mechanical, Thermal, and Antibacterial Properties of PLA/ZnO Nanoflower Biocomposite Filaments for 3D Printing Application

Abstract

Functionalities of 3D printing filaments have gained much attention owing to their properties for various applications in the last few years. Innovative biocomposite 3D printing filaments based on polylactic acid (PLA) composited with ZnO nanoflowers at varying contents were successfully fabricated via a single-screw extrusion technique. The effects of the varying ZnO nanoflower contents on their chemical, thermal, mechanical, and antibacterial properties were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and tensile testing, as well as qualitative and quantitative antibacterial tests, respectively. It was found that the ZnO nanoflowers did not express any chemical reactions with the PLA chains. The degrees of the crystallinity of the PLA/ZnO biocomposite filaments increased when compared with those of the neat PLA, and their properties slightly decreased when increasing the ZnO nanoflower contents. Additionally, the tensile strength of the PLA/ZnO biocomposite filaments gradually decreased when increasing the ZnO nanoflower contents. The antibacterial activity especially increased when increasing the ZnO nanoflower contents. Additionally, these 3D printing filaments performed better against Gram-positive (S. aureus) than Gram-negative (E. coli). This is probably due to the difference in the cell walls of the bacterial strains. The results indicated that these 3D printing filaments could be utilized for 3D printing and applied to medical fields.

Comparative Experimental Investigation of Biodegradable Antimicrobial Polymer-Based Composite Produced by 3D Printing Technology Enriched with Metallic Particles

“…Yang et al [ 38 ] examined the antibacterial efficiency of wood plastic composites reinforced with copper–zinc alloy particles against E. coli and claimed a 90.43% reduction in its growth. Furthermore, both the antibacterial efficiency and the mechanical and thermal properties of 3D printed materials were enhanced, as supported by the literature [ 39 , 40 ].…”

Polycaprolactone (PCL)-Polylactic Acid (PLA)-Glycerol (Gly) Composites Incorporated with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and Tea Tree Essential Oil (TTEO) for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…On the other hand, changes in the crystallinity of the F2, F3, and F4 membranes were observed. Firstly, adding ZnO-NPs promotes degradation by decreasing the nucleation processes, generating greater mobility of the polymer chains, and causing new diffraction sites such as the 2θ shift at 9° [ 44 ]. Secondly, the introduction of TTEO caused a decrease in the resolution and intensity of the diffraction peaks due to a change in the crystallinity; this observation suggests that TTEO reduces the intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions generating intermolecular spaces along the polymer chains [ 43 ].…”

A Review on Antibacterial Biomaterials in Biomedical Applications: From Materials Perspective to Bioinks Design

“…Hence, encapsulating antibacterial agents into the biomaterial matrix has attained much consideration in the past few years [ 147 ]. Antibacterial biomaterials are comparatively capable of repelling bacterial cells, inhibiting their adhesion, or inactivating/destroying cells attached to the surface, while not sufficiently productive in destroying the pathogens due to the complicated mechanisms of bacteria [ 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 , 152 , 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 , 165 , 166 , 167 , 168 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 ]. Thus, developing highly effective and specifically targeted biomaterials that generate antimicrobial agents and their service in 3D printing inks is vital for TE applications.…”