Tile Surface Research Articles

Validation of Antibacterial Systems for Sustainable Ceramic Tiles

Ceramic tiles are bacteriostatic materials; however, the COVID-19 emergency has pushed tile producers to improve surfaces’ antibacterial properties. The aim of this work was to validate a silver-based antibacterial treatment applied to porcelain stoneware tiles based on natural and waste materials, thus correlating surface functionalization to tile composition and relevant physical, microstructural, and textural parameters. The treatment was applied before firing, with and without a polymeric primer. Antibacterial activity tests, stain resistance tests, and contact angle measurements were carried out on fired tiles. Further investigations were made by SEM and optical profilometry in order to study the morphological–structural profile of tile surfaces. Results showed strong antibacterial activities for all the functionalized tiles, which were mainly correlated to the morphological and textural parameters of ceramic surfaces, as well as the presence of the polymeric primer.

Copper oxide‐ and copper‐modified antibacterial ceramic surfaces

AbstractIn the present study, copper oxide (CuO) and copper (Cu) particles were characterized and investigated to observe the effects of antimicrobial activity on ceramic tile surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used for particle characterization. A new formulation of antimicrobial glaze was achieved by the combination of two glaze compositions with different Cu and CuO content to obtain micro–nano hybrid surface morphology to provide the antibacterial property. Surface morphology of coated ceramic surfaces was examined by SEM in detail and water contact angles were measured with goniometer. The relationships between antibacterial effect, phase evolution, surface topography, and wettability of surfaces were determined. The tenorite phase of CuO was observed on both Cu‐ and CuO‐modified surfaces. Both Cu and CuO particles in glazed ceramic surfaces showed the similar antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The antibacterial activity was dependent on mainly tenorite phase crystallization. The amount of the tenorite phase that was slightly higher in the case of Cu‐incorporated surfaces instead of CuO and hence the bactericidal effect was slightly more pronounced. Although the developed surfaces are not hydrophobic, they show antibacterial properties.

Optimizing Operating Parameters of Electric Ultra-Low Volume Sprayer with Slightly Acidic Electrolyzed Solution for Efficient Virucidal Activity on Environmental Surfaces.

Recently, and considering the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing consensus that the disinfection of surfaces contaminated with pathogenic viral particles is essential. Chemical disinfectant sprays are effective at preventing the spread of infectious human noroviruses (Hu-NoVs) in healthcare and public areas. We assessed the virucidal activity of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) spray on fomite surfaces. A multivariate statistical assessment that combined a response surface methodology (RSM) and a Box–Behnken design (BBD) was performed to define the optimal parameters of, and correlations among, experimental conditions. Spraying SAEW disinfectant (oxidation-reduction potential: 1123 mV, pH range: 5.12, available chlorine concentration: 33.22 ppm) resulted in the successful decontamination of Hu-NoV, with a 4-log reduction in viral particles on polyvinyl chloride, stainless steel, ceramic tile, and glass surfaces. Our experimental data revealed optimized treatment conditions for decontaminating Hu-NoV GI.6 and GII.4, using the numerical multiple optimized method (spraying rate: 218 mL/min, spraying time: 4.9 s, spraying distance: 0.9 m). These findings offer significant insights for designing optimal strategic control practices to prevent infectious disease, particularly Hu-NoV, transmission.

Rapid inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by titanium dioxide surface coating.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission occurs via airborne droplets and surface contamination. Titanium dioxide (TiO 2) coating of surfaces is a promising infection control measure, though to date has not been tested against SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Virus stability was evaluated on TiO 2- and TiO 2-Ag (Ti:Ag atomic ratio 1:0.04)-coated 45 x 45 mm ceramic tiles. After coating the tiles were stored for 2-4 months before use. We tested the stability of both SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudotyped virions based on a lentiviral system, as well as fully infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus. For the former, tile surfaces were inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped HIV-1 luciferase virus. At intervals virus was recovered from surfaces and target cells infected. For live virus, after illuminating tiles for 0-300 min virus was recovered from surfaces followed by infection of Vero E6 cells. % of infected cells was determined by flow cytometry detecting SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein 24 h post-infection. Results: After 1 h illumination the pseudotyped viral titre was decreased by four orders of magnitude. There was no significant difference between the TiO 2 and TiO 2-Ag coatings. Light alone had no significant effect on viral viability. For live SARS-CoV-2, virus was already significantly inactivated on the TiO 2 surfaces after 20 min illumination. After 5 h no detectable active virus remained. Significantly, SARS-CoV-2 on the untreated surface was still fully infectious at 5 h post-addition of virus. Overall, tiles coated with TiO 2 120 days previously were able to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 under ambient indoor lighting with 87% reduction in titres at 1h and complete loss by 5h exposure. Conclusions: In the context of emerging viral variants with increased transmissibility, TiO 2 coatings could be an important tool in containing SARS-CoV-2, particularly in health care facilities where nosocomial infection rates are high.

Rapid inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by titanium dioxide surface coating

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission occurs via airborne droplets and surface contamination. Titanium dioxide (TiO 2) coating of surfaces is a promising infection control measure, though to date has not been tested against SARS-CoV-2.Methods: Virus stability was evaluated on TiO 2- and TiO 2–Ag (Ti:Ag atomic ratio 1:0.04)-coated 45 x 45 mm ceramic tiles. After coating the tiles were stored for 2–4 months before use. We tested the stability of both SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudotyped virions based on a lentiviral system, as well as fully infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus. For the former, tile surfaces were inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped HIV-1 luciferase virus. At intervals virus was recovered from surfaces and target cells infected. For live virus, after illuminating tiles for 0–300 min virus was recovered from surfaces followed by infection of Vero E6 cells. % of infected cells was determined by flow cytometry detecting SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein 24 h post-infection.Results: After 1 h illumination the pseudotyped viral titre was decreased by four orders of magnitude. There was no significant difference between the TiO 2 and TiO 2–Ag coatings. Light alone had no significant effect on viral viability. For live SARS-CoV-2, virus was already significantly inactivated on the TiO 2 surfaces after 20 min illumination. After 5 h no detectable active virus remained. Significantly, SARS-CoV-2 on the untreated surface was still fully infectious at 5 h post-addition of virus. Overall, tiles coated with TiO 2 120 days previously were able to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 under ambient indoor lighting with 87% reduction in titres at 1h and complete loss by 5h exposure.Conclusions: In the context of emerging viral variants with increased transmissibility, TiO 2 coatings could be an important tool in containing SARS-CoV-2, particularly in health care facilities where nosocomial infection rates are high.

DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATED CERAMIC TILES SURFACE DEFECT DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

This research presented the development of an automated system for ceramic tiles surface defect detection and classification. The production process of ceramic tiles is very fast through the use of automated system except the inspection process that is manually carried out. The fast rate of production and numerous amounts to be produced make it difficult to manually inspect the tiles defects. Currently many literatures have proposed various automated systems for detecting and classifying defects on ceramic tiles. In this research different defected and non-defected images of ceramic tiles were taking at the firing unit in a Ceramic Company with a Nikon D40 camera. A statistical method called Rotation Invariant Measure of Local Variance (RIMLV) operator was used for detection of the defects while morphological operator was used to fill and smooth detected regions. Then, the detected defects are labelled to extract the corresponding features vectors using Fourier descriptors. To categorize the defect, multi-class support vector machine classifier (SVM) was used. The proposed system recorded an accuracy of 98 percent for classification and 0.094939 seconds for classification using one-against all SVM classifier.

The Effect of the Decorative Surface Layer on the Dynamic Properties of a Symmetric Concrete Slab

In the past few years, the immense advances in building materials and construction techniques have inspired the development of large span, light, and flexible structures with low damping. The low frequency and low damping properties of the mentioned structures result in the problem of serviceability caused by human-induced vibrations. An evaluation of the serviceability of a structure requires obtaining the modes and natural frequencies of the structure via the finite element method (FEM). In the design stage, the structural model considers the contribution of involved elements made to the stiffness of the whole structure, such as beams, slabs, and columns, while the decorative surface layer above the floor is often regarded as an additional mass, regardless of its contribution to the stiffness of the floor slab. In this study, the dynamic properties of a symmetric concrete slab were tested with an ambient excitation method to obtain the dynamic properties of the original empty structure and the structure decorated with a tiled surface, a marble surface, and a terrazzo surface, respectively. The results show that the first-order natural frequencies of floor slabs decorated with tile, marble, and terrazzo finishes are decreased compared to the original empty structure, while the second- and third-order ones are increased, which indicates that it is improper to treat decorative finishes purely as an additional mass. By equating the decorative layer to a certain thickness of additional concrete layer in the finite element model, it is found that, if the decorative surface layer is equated to a 29–31 mm thick additional layer and the weight of the equivalent additional layer is the same as that of the actual decorative surface, the simulation results will be in good agreement with the measured results. Moreover, the test results indicate that the first-order shape function of the structure is symmetric and its second- and third-order shape functions are antisymmetric, which is consistent with the results of simulations under FEM method. This provides a basis for designers to evaluate the contribution of the additional layers in structural serviceability analysis.

Cover crops differentially influenced nitrogen and phosphorus loss in tile drainage and surface runoff from agricultural fields in Ohio, USA

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loss from crop production agriculture is transported to adjacent and downstream water bodies, resulting in negative environmental impacts including harmful and nuisance algal blooms. Cover crops are a conservation management practice that replaces bare soil with vegetation outside of the cash crop growing season, purportedly reducing N and P loss by increasing water and nutrient demand in agroecosystems. In this study, we compared nitrate (NO3−-N), total N (TN), dissolved reactive P (DRP), and total P (TP) loads in subsurface (tile) drainage and surface runoff from fields with cover crop management (CC) and fields without cover crop management (NoCC) using continuous monitoring data from 40 agricultural fields located throughout northcentral Ohio, United States (US). We found that average monthly tile NO3−-N and TN loads from CC fields were ~50% less than NoCC fields, while average monthly tile discharge, DRP, and TP loads did not differ between CC and NoCC fields. Cover crops also did not significantly influence average monthly surface metrics. Cover crops reduced monthly totals of tile NO3−-N and TN loads by ~1.0–2.6 kg N ha−1 from January to June (winter and spring), coinciding with critical periods of nutrient loss from agroecosystems in the midwestern US, but increased monthly totals of tile DRP (by 0.4–12.1 g DRP ha−1) and TP (by 1.2–31.6 g TP ha−1) loads during some months. We found similar patterns at the annual time scale whereby CC fields had lesser cumulative annual totals of tile NO3−-N and TN but greater cumulative annual totals of tile DRP and TP. These results show that the influence of cover crops on N loads, but not P, were consistent across temporal scales of examination, demonstrating that cover crops effectively increased N demand and mitigated N losses from agricultural fields. The variable influence of cover crops on P loads underscores the need for greater understanding of the factors and mechanisms that control P loss in systems that include cover crop management. Furthermore, these findings stress the importance of identifying and selecting conservation management practices tailored to the natural resource concern.

The interaction of the ITER first wall with magnetic perturbations

Mitigation of the multiple risks associated with disruptions and runaway electrons in tokamaks involves competing demands. Success requires that each risk be understood sufficiently that appropriate compromises can be made. Here the focus is on the interaction of short timescale magnetic-perturbations with the structure in ITER that is closest to the plasma, blanket modules covered by separated beryllium tiles. The effect of this tiled surface on the perturbations and on the forces on structures is subtle. Indeterminacy can be introduced by tile-to-tile shorting. A determinate subtlety is introduced because electrically separated tiles can act as a conducting surface for magnetic perturbations that have a normal component to the surface. A practical method for including this determinate subtlety into plasma simulations is developed. The shorter the timescales and the greater the localization, particularly in the toroidal direction, the more important the magnetic effects of the tiles become.

Rapid inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by titanium dioxide surface coating

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission occurs via airborne droplets and surface contamination. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) coating of surfaces is a promising infection control measure, though to date has not been tested against SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Virus stability was evaluated on TiO2- and TiO2–Ag (Ti:Ag atomic ratio 1:0.04)-coated 45 x 45 mm ceramic tiles. After coating the tiles were stored for 2–4 months before use. We tested the stability of both SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudotyped virions based on a lentiviral system, as well as fully infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus. For the former, tile surfaces were inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped HIV-1 luciferase virus. At intervals virus was recovered from surfaces and target cells infected. For live virus, after illuminating tiles for 0–300 min virus was recovered from surfaces followed by infection of Vero E6 cells. % of infected cells was determined by flow cytometry detecting SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein 24 h post-infection. Results: After 1 h illumination the pseudotyped viral titre was decreased by four orders of magnitude. There was no significant difference between the TiO2 and TiO2–Ag coatings. Light alone had no significant effect on viral viability. For live SARS-CoV-2, virus was already significantly inactivated on the TiO2 surfaces after 20 min illumination. After 5 h no detectable active virus remained. Significantly, SARS-CoV-2 on the untreated surface was still fully infectious at 5 h post-addition of virus. Overall, tiles coated with TiO2 120 days previously were able to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 under ambient indoor lighting with 87% reduction in titres at 1h and complete loss by 5h exposure. Conclusions: In the context of emerging viral variants with increased transmissibility, TiO2 coatings could be an important tool in containing SARS-CoV-2, particularly in health care facilities where nosocomial infection rates are high.

The Study of Slip at the Surface in Terms of Carbon Dust

In this paper, an experimental study of the dependence of the coefficient of friction in the "sole-floor" system under various conditions is carried out. During the test, a tile was used as a support surface. Part of the sole of a special Shoe was placed on a tile and, slowly lifting the tile, determined the angle at which the movement of the Shoe sample begins. The sole and surface of the tile were specially prepared: cleaned before testing or applied a layer of graphite, rubbing into the surface. The studies were performed under various conditions: a clean Shoe sample and a clean surface, a Shoe sample and a surface contaminated with graphite dust. A graphite electrode powder with a grain size of no more than 0.1 mm was used as graphite dust. Graphite was applied to the tile surface in the form of a loose layer, or with a small seal. Analysis of the results shows that the highest coefficient of friction occurs between a clean Shoe sample and a clean floor surface, which is difficult to achieve in real production conditions. This combination is the safest in production conditions. The lowest coefficient of friction is obtained when a Shoe sample contaminated with graphite slides when there is a loose layer of graphite on the floor surface. This leads to the conclusion that it is necessary to clean the floor surface and shoes from carbon dust to ensure a safer environment for production workers in the presence of carbon-containing dust in the air of the working area. The results obtained can be useful for developing recommendations on the organization of safe working conditions at enterprises associated with the processing of carbon-containing materials.

Investigation of lightning damage mechanism and flashover channels on glazed roofing tiles of ancient buildings through laboratory experiments

Glazed roofing components play a very important role in Chinese ancient buildings. In this study, the artificial lightning strike test on a type of glazed roofing tile of ancient buildings in China was carried out to investigate the lightning damage mechanism of ancient buildings. A high-speed camera was used to observe the process of lightning striking the enamel, body and mortar of the glazed tiles. The highest propagation speeds of flashover channel are achieved on the enamel surface of the glazed tile, followed by one on the surface of the body and the mortar successively under the condition of the similar moisture content. The propagation speeds of flashover channels are generally positively related to the moisture content for the same material composition of the glazed tiles except mortar. The flashover channels are basically regular on the surfaces of the enamel and the body, while they are irregular on the surface of the mortar. For the enamel and the body of the glazed tile, the surface flashover is easier to develop along the rough body surface. The lightning current enters the glazed tile easily through the mortar position, which results in the fracture of the glazed tile. The reason might be related to the high porosity, high moisture content and good electrical conductivity of the mortar. So the mortar component of the glazed tiles should be important for the design of the lightning protection, which is helpful to decrease the lightning damage for the glazed roofing components.

CFD based simulation of indoor radon distribution from the use of different brands of decorative glazed tiles made in China

ABSTRACT The radon exhalation rates of the surface of 10 different brands of glazed tiles made in China are measured and assessed. The experimental results reveal that the values of radon exhalation rate from the surface of glazed tiles are in the range of 0.36–2.52 Bq·m2 h−1, with a mean of 1.48 Bq·m2 h−1. These measurements obtained in this study are much lower than the typical radon exhalation rate international reference value of soil, and are also within the range of the reported literatures. Meanwhile, these data are taken as input parameters of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for simulation comparative study. The different plane distribution of radon from the use of different brands of glazed tiles in the model residential room is simulated. The simulation results show that the distribution of radon concentration in different XY plane is un-even, and the values of radon concentrations in XY plane is decreasing with the increase of z height. Deducting the contribution of the worldwide typical outdoor radon concentration, the maximum mean radon concentration at z = 0.5 m height was found to be 6.03 Bq·m−3 in Brand ‘B.H’ which accounts for 13.40% of the worldwide geometric mean indoor radon concentration. Combined with the measurement and simulation results, it can be known that the use of glazed tiles is not the main source of indoor radon, but glazed tile with lower radon exhalation rate is still needed for health purpose.

Equivalent protection factor of bi-layer ceramic metal structures

With increasing ballistic threat levels, there is ever more demand on developing ceramic armor designs with improved performance. This paper presents finite element simulations that investigate the performance of silicon carbide ceramic with steel 4340 backing material and titanium alloy, graphite as buffer layers when subjected to normal and oblique impacts by a tungsten alloy long rod projectile (LRP). Depth of penetration from experimental measurements is compared with simulations to confirm the validity of constitutive, failure model parameters. Titanium alloy cover plate and graphite interface weak layer laterally spread the impact shock away from the SiC tile and reduces the amplification of the stress accumulation at the front surface of the SiC tile. The dwelling time increases before it penetrates into ceramic armor. Further, using AUTODYN® numerical simulations detailed parametric study is carried out to identify the minimum areal density armor for a given ballistic limit velocity. The equivalent protection factor for the bi-layer armor is a simple function of the cosine of the angle of impact.

Determining the Potential Food Safety Risks Associated with Dropped Produce on Floor Surfaces in Grocery Stores

Grocery stores handle fresh produce in large quantities daily. According to the Food and Drug Administration Food Code, food is to be stored at least 15 cm above the floor, and all foods shall be protected from any source of contamination or otherwise discarded. It is reported in the literature that dropped produce could be a potential source of microbial contamination. Both consumers and employees often drop produce on the floor and then place it back into a display case or bin, which could potentially serve as a source of contamination. This study aims to determine the bacterial transfer rate on different produce types when dropped for various contact times onto floor surfaces contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Apples, peaches, and romaine lettuce were dropped separately onto carpet and tile surfaces from a distance of 1 m and held for 5 s, 1 min, 10 min, 1 h, and 4 h. Results showed that transfer from all produce types occurred from both the carpet (10.56%) and tile (3.65%) surfaces. Still, percent transfer was not statistically significant among different times used in this study (P > 0.05). Dropped romaine lettuce had the most transfer (28.97%) from both the surfaces combined, followed by apples (8.80%) and peaches (7.32%) with minimal transfer. Even with a low transfer level, grocery stores should include signage to alert consumers not to pick up dropped produce and should train their employees accordingly.

Numerical investigation of thermo hydraulic characteristics of monoblock module of EAST divertor

The Engineering design of divertor is one of the most important topics in nuclear fusion research. The primary problem in the design of divertor is to discharge the large amount of energy from high-energy plasma particles to ensure that the operation of fusion devices can be safe and stable for a long time. Based on the temperature of the divertor target plate measured in a discharge of the EAST experimental device, we carry out numerical simulations to examine the thermal and hydraulic performance of the Monoblock module. The ANSYS software is used for the simulations on the fluid-solid coupling phenomenon of a simplified model. The ANSYS parallel module and 30 CPUs are used for parallel computing, and periodic temperature pulses are loaded on the top surface of a tungsten divertor tile to investigate the thermo-hydraulic characteristics of Monoblock module. We find the pattern in which the distributions of temperature and heat flux change over time. The maximum temperature mainly depends on the peak heat flux of high-energy particles and the duration of pulses, The temperature of the interface of each component and of coolant outlet are all related to the density of discharge pulse and the duration of discharge, and the temperature of the interface of each component will reach to an equilibrium under the condition of stable discharge heat flow. The results provide support for the structural design of a stable EAST divertor.

2D Detection Model of Defect on the Surface of Ceramic Tile by an Artificial Neural Network

The ceramic tile visual inspection process is divided into three parts: texture classification, color classification, and surface defect detection. In its application in the industry is a difficult process, because it is done manually involving many workers and done in a noisy environment with differences in temperature and humidity. This study emphasized the quality control based on the visual inspection automation system on the detection of a defective type of ceramic surface. The process performed is capturing an image, image processing, feature extraction, training, testing, and classification. In the preprocessing process are image resizing, RGB color conversion, segmentation and feature extraction. Features extraction using Gray Level Co-occurrence Matric (GLCM). The generated feature will be an artificial neural network (ANN) input in training and testing using Matlab 2013a to detect more than one type of surface defect with good accuracy. The artificial neural network training uses backpropagation with network architectures 14 input features, 27 hidden layers, 1 output. The learning rate used 0.001, 75 data training, and 23 data testing. The position and type of defect can be detected with 83% accuracy and error rate of 17%. Maximum time detection 1,06 seconds and minimum time detection 0,1 seconds. therefore by using automation system inspection, inspection error caused humans could be ignored and increased quality and productivity in production.

Vinyl-Asbestos Floor Risk Exposure in Three Different Simulations.

Vinyl floors are widely used in public areas for their low cost and easy cleaning. From 1960 to 1980, asbestos was often added to improve vinyl floor performances. The Italian Ministerial Decree (M.D.) 06/09/94 indicates asbestos vinyl tiles as non-friable materials and, therefore, few dangerous to human health. This work aims to check through three different experimental tests if asbestos floor tiles, after decades of use, maintain their characteristics of compactness and non-friability. The effect of a small stone fragment stuck in the sole of rubber shoes was reproduced by striking the vinyl floor with a crampon. A vinyl tile was broken into smaller pieces with the aid of pliers to simulate what normally happens when workers replace the floors or sample it to verify the presence of asbestos. The third test reproduced the abrasion of the tile surface due to the dragging of furniture or heavy materials or sand grains that remain attached to the soles of shoes. The tests were carried out in safe conditions, working under an extractor hood with a glove box. Airborne sampling in the hood obtained the concentration of asbestos fibers produced in each test. The simulation tests performed confirms the possible release of fibers if the vinyl tiles are cut, abraded or perforated, as indicated by the Italian M.D.

Evaporation of droplets capable of bearing viruses airborne and on hydrophobic surfaces

Airborne and deposited water microdroplets can carry viruses including coronaviruses. The evaporation of microdroplets containing virus particles often leads to virus inactivation. Microdroplet evaporation involves various mechanisms such as diffusion, the Kelvin effect, infrared irradiation, and the role of solutes. For the evaporation of airborne water microdroplets, temperature and relative humidity of ambient air are important factors. However, for sessile droplets deposited on solid surfaces, wetting and porosity become important factors that control evaporation on regular, superhydrophobic, and photocatalytic surfaces. An experimental study of the effect of wetting properties and porosity on the evaporation rates on the polypropylene non-woven medical fabric was consistent with the theoretical models. Highly porous tile surfaces exhibited 2.2–4 times faster evaporation rates than nonporous surfaces.

Probiotic design

Responding to advances in medical fields that now understand the integral role that bacteria play towards human health, this research proposes a novel probiotic approach towards designing healthy buildings in relation to beneficial microbes. This research fundamentally challenges modern approaches to healthy buildings that assume fewer microbes as the default healthy condition. Probiotic design builds on the contemporary understanding of the microbiome and the need for reintroducing environmental microbial diversity into buildings. The research uses an interdisciplinary approach between microbiology and architecture which aims to develop living materials embedded with beneficial bacteria for buildings to directly shape the indoor microbiome towards a healthier microbial condition. This approach utilises a mix of in vitro and in silico methodologies to explore the design, fabrication, and survival of living probiotic materials. These are then scaled up to building size as a series of probiotic tile surfaces which are in turn installed in a test space to monitor their effect on the indoor microbiome. The research provides evidence of a successful methodology for integrating viable bacteria into ceramic and concrete materials. As these are proved to inhibit the growth of pathogens, they can also directly increase environmental microbial presence towards healthy indoor microbiomes.