Investigating the Properties and Characterization of a Hybrid 3D Printed Antimicrobial Composite Material Using FFF Process: Innovative and Swift

Characteristics and Key Features of Antimicrobial Materials and Associated Mechanisms for Diverse Applications

Since the Fourth Industrial Revolution, three-dimensional (3D) printing has become a game changer in manufacturing, particularly in bioengineering, integrating complex medical devices and tools with high precision, short operation times, and low cost. Antimicrobial materials are a promising alternative for combating the emergence of unforeseen illnesses and device-related infections. Natural antimicrobial materials, surface-treated biomaterials, and biomaterials incorporated with antimicrobial materials are extensively used to develop 3D-printed products. This review discusses the antimicrobial mechanisms of different materials by providing examples of the most commonly used antimicrobial materials in bioengineering and brief descriptions of their properties and biomedical applications. This review will help researchers to choose suitable antimicrobial agents for developing high-efficiency biomaterials for potential applications in medical devices, packaging materials, biomedical applications, and many more.

Recent Progress and Trends in the Development of Electrospun and 3D Printed Polymeric-Based Materials to Overcome Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) developed by microorganisms is considered one of the most critical public health issues worldwide. This problem is affecting the lives of millions of people and needs to be addressed promptly. Mainly, antibiotics are the substances that contribute to AMR in various strains of bacteria and other microorganisms, leading to infectious diseases that cannot be effectively treated. To avoid the use of antibiotics and similar drugs, several approaches have gained attention in the fields of materials science and engineering as well as pharmaceutics over the past five years. Our focus lies on the design and manufacture of polymeric-based materials capable of incorporating antimicrobial agents excluding the aforementioned substances. In this sense, two of the emerging techniques for materials fabrication, namely, electrospinning and 3D printing, have gained significant attraction. In this article, we provide a summary of the most important findings that contribute to the development of antimicrobial systems using these technologies to incorporate various types of nanomaterials, organic molecules, or natural compounds with the required property. Furthermore, we discuss and consider the challenges that lie ahead in this research field for the coming years.