Novel Durable Antimicrobial Ceramic with Embedded Copper Sub-Microparticles for a Steady-State Release of Copper Ions
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
2
NSF International, 789 Dixboro Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2017, 10(7), 775; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070775
Received: 12 June 2017 / Revised: 3 July 2017 / Accepted: 6 July 2017 / Published: 10 July 2017
(This article belongs to the Section Structure Analysis and Characterization)
Using pottery clay, porous ceramic stones were molded and then decorated with copper sub-microparticles inside the pores. Copper added antimicrobial functionality to the clay-based ceramic and showed ability in disinfecting water. Populations of both Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae in contaminated water were reduced by >99.9% in 3 h when exposed to an antimicrobial stone. This antimicrobial performance is attributed to a slow release of copper into water at both room and elevated temperatures. Copper is leached by water to produce ion concentrations in water at a level of 0.05–0.20 ppm after 24 to 72 h immersion tests. This concentration is reproducible over a number of cycles >400. To our knowledge, this is the first formulation of copper sub-microparticles inside the porous structure of commercial-sized ceramic stones that can disinfect bacteria-contaminated water over a period of at least several months.
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Keywords:
antimicrobial ceramic; copper; water disinfection
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MDPI and ACS Style
Drelich, A.J.; Miller, J.; Donofrio, R.; Drelich, J.W. Novel Durable Antimicrobial Ceramic with Embedded Copper Sub-Microparticles for a Steady-State Release of Copper Ions. Materials 2017, 10, 775.
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