Molecules (Oct 2021)

Sintered and 3D-Printed Bulks of MgB<sub>2</sub>-Based Materials with Antimicrobial Properties

  • Petre Badica,
  • Nicolae Dan Batalu,
  • Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc,
  • Mihail Burdusel,
  • Mihai Alexandru Grigoroscuta,
  • Gheorghe Virgil Aldica,
  • Iuliana Pasuk,
  • Andrei Kuncser,
  • Marcela Popa,
  • Angelo Agostino,
  • Lorenza Operti,
  • Santanu Kumar Padhi,
  • Valentina Bonino,
  • Marco Truccato

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26196045
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 19
p. 6045

Abstract

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Pristine high-density bulk disks of MgB2 with added hexagonal BN (10 wt.%) were prepared using spark plasma sintering. The BN-added samples are machinable by chipping them into desired geometries. Complex shapes of different sizes can also be obtained by the 3D printing of polylactic acid filaments embedded with MgB2 powder particles (10 wt.%). Our present work aims to assess antimicrobial activity quantified as viable cells (CFU/mL) vs. time of sintered and 3D-printed materials. In vitro antimicrobial tests were performed against the bacterial strains Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecium DSM 13590, and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212; and the yeast strain Candida parapsilosis ATCC 22019. The antimicrobial effects were found to depend on the tested samples and microbes, with E. faecium being the most resistant and E. coli the most susceptible.

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