Using micro-patterned surfaces to inhibit settlement and biofilm formation by Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

Biofilm is a biological complex caused by bacteria attachment to the substrates and their subsequent reproduction and secretion. This phenomenon reduces heat transfer efficiency and causes significant losses in treated sewage heat-recovering systems. This paper describes a physical approach to inhibit bacteria settlement and biofilm formation by Bacillus subtilis, which is the dominant species in treated sewage. Here, micro-patterned surfaces with different characteristics (stripe and cube) and dimensions (1-100 μm) were fabricated as surfaces of interest. Model sewage was prepared and a rotating coupon device was used to form the biofilms. Precision balance, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) were employed to investigate the inhibitory effects and the mechanisms of the biofilm-surface interactions. The results have shown that surfaces with small pattern sizes (1 and 2 μm) all reduced biofilm formation significantly. Interestingly, the CLSM images showed that the surfaces do not play a role in "killing" the bacteria. These findings are useful for future development of new process surfaces on which bacteria settlement and biofilm formation can be inhibited or minimized.

An investigation of the effect of the extracts from the seeds of Bidens pilosa on the growth of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis

“…The spores and the formation of biofilm can cause B. subtilis to be antibiotic-resistant causing food poisoning (Zhang et al 2019) [14]. Chang et al (2017) [15] found out that B. subtilis can form biofilm on treated waste heat pump systems.…”

Effect of surface interactions on the settlement of particles on a sinusoidally corrugated substrate

“…15 Increasingly, the focus has been on creating non-toxic antifouling coatings by taking advantage of surface topographical features [16][17][18][19][20][21][22] inspired by examples found in nature. [23][24][25][26] Although the use of nature-inspired surface topography to mitigate biofouling is an ongoing area of research, the problem is complex due to the vast array of different shapes and sizes as well as chemistries taken by fouling organisms. 27 Fouling species vary in size from nm (i.e., proteins) to cm (i.e., barnacles or tubeworms).…”