The chemical compositions of the surface conditioning layers formed by different types of solutions (from isolated EPS to whole culture media), involving different bacterial strains relevant for biocorrosion were compared, as they may influence the initial step in biofilm formation. Different substrata (polystyrene, glass, steel) were conditioned and analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Peak decomposition and assignment were validated by correlations between independent spectral data and the ubiquitous presence of organic contaminants on inorganic substrata was taken into account. Proteins or peptides were found to be a major constituent of all conditioning layers and polysaccharides were not present in appreciable concentrations; the proportion of nitrogen which may be due to DNA was lower than 15%. There was no significant difference between the compositions of the adlayers formed from different conditioning solutions, except for the adlayers produced with tightly bound EPS extracted from D. alaskensis.
Copper alloys, often used in cooling circuits of industrial plants using seawater as coolant, can be affected by biocorrosion induced by biofilm formation. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by bacteria play a fundamental role in the different stages of biofilm formation, maturation and maintenance. The influence of loosely bound (LB) and tightly bound (TB) EPS, extracted from marine Pseudomonas NCIMB 2021, on the electrochemical behaviour of 70Cu-30Ni (wt. %) alloy in static artificial seawater (ASW) and on the chemical composition of oxide layers was studied by combined electrochemical measurements (polarisation curves, EIS) and surface analysis (XPS, ToF-SIMS). Results were compared with those obtained in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA), a model protein.Compared to 70Cu-30Ni alloy in static ASW without biomolecules, for which a thick duplex oxide layer (outer redeposited Cu 2 O layer and inner oxidized nickel layer) is shown, the presence of BSA, TB EPS and LB EPS leads to a mixed oxide layer (oxidized copper and nickel) with a lower thickness. In the biomolecules-containing solutions, this oxide layer is covered by an adsorbed organic layer, mainly composed of proteins. A model is proposed to analyse impedance data obtained at the corrosion potential. The fitting procedure of impedance diagrams allows extracting the anodic charge transfer resistance, from which the corrosion current density can be calculated. The results show a slow-down of the anodic reaction in the presence of biomolecules (BSA, TB EPS and LB EPS), and a corrosion inhibition effect by LB EPS and to a lesser extent by BSA. No detrimental effect is evidenced with TB EPS.
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