Additive Manufacturing of Virucidal PETG-Based Nanocomposites: a Sustainable Response to Public Health Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to develop new materials with antiviral properties that are low cost and easy to manufacture, such as those obtained through 3D printing. This work aimed to produce and characterize PETG filaments with added copper nanoparticles (NCu), looking for virucidal properties. Filaments were prepared with 0%, 0.75% and 1% NCu and samples were then printed in 3D. The samples were subjected to nanoindentation tests, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and digital optical microscopy. The results indicated an increase of approximately 48% in the modulus of elasticity of the nanocomposites with 0.75% and 1% NCu compared to pure PETG. TGA analysis showed that the nanocomposite with 1% NCu had greater thermal stability, with degradation starting at 402 °C, 19 °C higher than pure PETG. In addition, this material showed a second degradation peak and a mass loss of up to 90%, compared to 15% observed in pure PETG. The data obtained shows that the addition of NCu to PETG can significantly improve its mechanical and thermal properties, making it promising for applications requiring resistance and virucidal action.