Copper3D

Copper3D is a company making anti-bacterial materials for 3D printing that is headquartered in Santiago, Chile and was founded in 2017 by Daniel Martínez Pereira. The company is making antimicrobial nano-materials for the AM industry and 3D printing of medical applications.

A patented nanocomposite PLA for 3D printing that has a scientifically validated nano-copper additive with anti-bacterial properties. The company claims their PLACTIVE product is non-toxic, biodegradable, is an FDA Registered Material, and is EU compliant. PLACTIVE is clinically tested for manufacturing medical equipment susceptible to bacterial contamination such as prostheses, wound dressing, and surgical equipment.

MDflex and NanocleanMD^2 have the same copper additive as PLACTIVE and have food contact clearance.

Copper3D released an open-source STL digital file for 3D printing an N95 respirator with the potential to protect people against COVID-19 with the companies PLACTIVE material. The release is part of Nanohack, which is an open-source initiative to innovate and create new products and services to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The material used to make the mask can be formed correctly to each users unique facial features by using hair dryers or water to increase the temperature of the mask to between 55-60 degrees to form the mask to the face. The filtration system is also printed with the PLACTIVE material in several layers with different geometries to create effective fine particle filtration.