In Photo-Lab we developed an antimicrobial filament based on PLA. The “new” antimicrobial filament was used to print filters having different geometries tested for water sanitization.
![antimicrobial-filaments](http://www-4.unipv.it/3d/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/antimicrobial-filaments.png)
A mixture of PLA pellets and silver oxide was used with the ‘filabot’ filament extruder. Filaments having different silver concentration were prepared and tested.
![filaments-preparing](http://www-4.unipv.it/3d/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/filaments-preparing.png)
The 3D printing was fundamental to create filters (figure below) with a geometry that maximize the contact area. The printed objects cannot be obtained easily with conventional techniques. The water filters were designed with a parametric CAD (OpenSCAD).
![water-filters](http://www-4.unipv.it/3d/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/water-filters.png)
The parametrization was helpful to ease the design of filters having different geometries (diameter of the external tube, number, disposition and diameter of the inner wires).
![filters](http://www-4.unipv.it/3d/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/filters.png)
The filters were tested in the biology labs in the University of Pavia and they showed a good antimicrobial capacity (figure below).
![antimicrobial-capacity](http://www-4.unipv.it/3d/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/antimicrobial-capacity.png)
Collaborations
Prof. Chiara Milanese (Dipartimento di Chimica Fisica, Università di Pavia)
Prof. Cinzia Calvio (Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologia, Università di Pavia)