Integration of antimicrobial substances in 3-D printed plastics

Abstract

The risk of healthcare associated infections (HAI) is rising with the utilization of more complex medical devices. Cleaning and disinfecting measures of such devices are often insufficient leading to an increased microbiological contamination on these devices. Recent studies imply that antimicrobial coatings could present a solution for this topic. In this work a novel approach for the introduction of an antimicrobial technology into plastic granulate was tested. After 3-D printing the antimicrobial activity of the test samples was analysed. Our results show that the integration of an antimicrobial substance to ABS plastic is feasible only with sophisticated plastic processing technologies. Simple heating or mixing of the substance did not allow integration of the antimicrobial substance into the 3-D printed sample, but it was possible to integrate the antimicrobial ingredient into the raw material by compounding. The printed test samples showed strong antimicrobial activity in the standardized test procedures.