TY - GEN A1 - Kjaervik, Marit T1 - Characterisation of biofilms with near-ambient pressure XPS N2 - A drawback for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is that the measurements must be performed under ultra-high vacuum, which limits the type of samples which can be studied. However, by applying a differentially pumped aperture positioned close to the surface, even wet samples can be measured at near ambient pressure while the energy analyser is still under ultra-high vacuum, as illustrated below. Successful XPS-measurements with pressure up to 30 mbar have been reported using this approach, which opens up a new world of possibilities for ambient pressure measurements with XPS. While there are examples where NAP-XPS has been used to study electrochemical processes and heterogeneous catalysis, little attention has been paid to its potential use in biological materials. Until now, bacteria have only been characterised with conventional XPS, which requires tedious sample preparation usually involving freeze drying, a treatment that may degrade biological sample constituents. By studying biological samples in their native wet states, new insight about composition, absorption and transport of drugs through cell membranes and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) layers can be obtained. Both artificial model-films of exopolysaccharides and biofilms of Escherichia Coli have been characterised at pressures ranging from ultra-high vacuum to 15 mbar by using SPECS’ EnviroESCA NAP-XPS instrument and conventional XPS. By applying antimicrobials to model biofilms, some of which are known to be resistant towards the antimicrobial in question, the distribution of antimicrobials in biofilms has been studied. Measurement capabilities and limitations of the approach will be discussed. T2 - European conferene on applications of surface and interface analysis (ECASIA 17) CY - Montpellier, France DA - 25.09.2017 KW - NAP-XPS KW - E. coli KW - Biofilms KW - Alginate PY - 2017 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/42561 AN - OPUS4-42561 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany