TY - GEN A1 - Erdmann, Maren T1 - Effect of surface degradation on high-density polyethylene for biofilm formation N2 - Renewable resources become more and more relevant to maintain energy demands for an increasing global population. Biosynthetic fuels like biodiesel might replace conventional petrochemical fuels. In this study the influence of microbial growth on biodiesel and diesel on the storage tank systems were investigated. Polymeric fuel storage tanks for diesel and biodiesel provide suitable environmental conditions for a broad spectrum of fungi and various bacteria, including cyanobacteria and aerobic heterotrophic, and even anaerobic, fermentative Bacteria. However, the questions whether and how ageing of the materials is affected by biofouling processes have not been answered so far. Therefore, a model system for biofilm formation was established to study the initial attachment phase of bacteria in dependency of ageing, quality and surface modification of thermoplastic polymers used for storage tank systems. The microbial survey is closely connected with a detailed characterization of the material’s properties and its ageing processes. A widely applied plastic used for fuel storage tanks is high-density polyethylene (PE-HD), which is available with various additives to increase UV-light stability and even for the storage of biodiesel. These materials were aged under UV-light and temperature using a defined climate chamber set-up. Further, the repeated filling of fuels was mimicked for such storage tanks, as this has an important impact on the life-cycle length for the storage Container. The aged polymers showed a significant change in the material’s characteristics, including surface characteristics (e.g. hydrophobicity) and carbonyl groups. The effect of the changed material properties on the biofilm formation are studied using bacterial isolates, previously obtained from a “dieselpest”, and as a model-reference E. coli. The unaged polymers showed already some significant differences for the initial attachment of E. coli K12. Polyethylene with additives was colonized faster than the reference material (without additives) although the final biofilm coverage was not impaired. Likewise, the settlement of a kerosene-isolated Bacillus species on the unaged materials independently of additives was only minor interfered. In future, our results should give stakeholders in industry and public authorities a better estimation of the life-cycle security for fuel storage tank systems and on the fuel quality. Further, our results could help to test and develop new materials or additives to prevent biofouling processes. T2 - VAAM Jahrestagung CY - Würzburg, Germany DA - 05.03.2017 KW - PE-HD KW - Biofilm KW - MIC KW - Degradation PY - 2017 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/39457 AN - OPUS4-39457 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany