TiO2 Nanoparticles Obtained by Laser Sintering When Added to Methacrylate Photopolymer Resin Improve Its Physicochemical Characteristics and Impart Antibacterial Properties

In this paper, titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) with complex surface topologies were obtained for the first time using simple procedures applied in laser sintering. Based on the obtained nanoparticles and polymethyl methacrylate-like photopolymer resin, a composite material (MPR/TiO2-NPs) for 3D printing was created using the MSLA technology. Products made of the material containing from 0.001 to 0.1% wt. TiO2-NPs didn’t contain internal defects and were less brittle than the resin without nanoparticles. Products made of the MPR/TiO2-NPs material were well polished; after polishing, areas with a variation in the surface profile height of less than 10 nm were found on the surfaces. Nanoparticles in the volume of products made of the material are apparently unevenly distributed; there are alternating areas of micrometer sizes with slightly higher and slightly lower concentrations of nanoparticles. Spectroscopy showed that adding the developed nanoparticles promoted better polymerization of the MPR resin. The addition of nanoparticles to the material slightly increased its ability to generate active forms of oxygen and damage biomacromolecules. At the same time, the resulting material exhibits significant antibacterial properties and doen’t affect the growth and reproduction of animal cells. The created material can be a very effective basis for the additive manufacturing of products with improved physical and chemical properties and balanced biological activity.