6.6 Physik und chemische Analytik der Polymere
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Bacterial biofilms have the capacity to develop and thrive in virtually all circumstances and surfaces, even in the most challenging environmental conditions. The pervasive and recalcitrant existence of biofilms renders them to be a significant safety risk and economical encumbrance in a wide array of industries and technologies, and therefore is a priority area of research.
It is essential to develop an improved understanding of the mechanisms implicated during biofilm formation, such as in the case of the diffusion of bacterial-secreted extracellular electron transporters, which are purported to play an important role during biocorrosion by exoelectrogenic bacteria. Hence, a fundamental understanding of electron transfer mechanisms between bacteria and extracellular electron acceptors will contribute insight to our understanding of charge transport and chemistry at the biofilm – external insoluble electron acceptor interface.
In the present work, Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier transform-infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has been coupled to electrochemical techniques for the nondestructive, in situ spectro-electrochemical monitoring of biofilms in real-time. Shewanella sp. have been selected for this investigation due to their adaptable exoelectrogenic respiratory capacities and their notable ability to reduce metals via several different mechanisms of extracellular electron transfer mechanisms, including self-secreted flavin shuttles. Gold-thin film model substrates have been used due to their inert nature and for their ability to permit precise manipulation of the substrate surface polarization. Additionally, hydrogels comprised of calcium cross-linked alginate have been used to mimic the architectural features of extracellular polymeric substances which are integral to a bacterial biofilm, to allow the study of electron-transporting flavin molecules in an artificial biofilm. The results will demonstrate patterns of diffusion, akin to how flavins would diffuse in a naturally occurring biofilm, and how polarization affects this process. Furthermore, insight will be gained on how the redox behavior of flavins can influence the development and evolution of a biofilm.
This interdisciplinary approach should shed light on bacterial electron transfer mechanisms which could contribute towards emerging technologies which seek to better understand such mechanisms for novel antifouling strategies, renewable energies, and bioremediation.