Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Novel Durable Antimicrobial Ceramic With Embedded Copper Sub-Microparticles For A Steady-State Release Of Copper Ions, Adam J. Drelich, Jessie Miller, Robert Donofrio, Jaroslaw Drelich

Michigan Tech Publications

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 …