Innovative Antibiofilm Smart Surface Against for Water Systems

Overview

Journal Microorganisms

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2022 May 28

PMID 35630315

Authors

Simona Filice

Emanuele Luigi Sciuto

Silvia Scalese

Giuseppina Faro

Sebania Libertino

Domenico Corso

Rosario Manuel Timpanaro

Pasqualina Lagana

Maria Anna Coniglio

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

contamination of water systems is a crucial issue for public health. The pathogen is able to persist in water as free-living planktonic bacteria or to grow within biofilms that adhere to and clog filters and pipes in a water system, reducing its lifespan and, in the case of hospital buildings, increasing the risk of nosocomial infections. The implementation of water management is considered to be the main prevention measure and can be achieved from the optimization of water system architecture, notably introducing new materials and strategies to contrast biofilm proliferation and so prolong the water system functionality. In this research, we propose a new smart surface against biofilm formation. This is based on an innovative type of coating consisting of a sulfonated pentablock copolymer (s-PBC, commercially named Nexar™) deposited on top of a polypropylene (PP) coupon in a sandwich filter model. The covering of PP with s-PBC results in a more hydrophilic, acid, and negatively charged surface that induces microbial physiological inhibition thereby preventing adhesion and/or proliferation attempts of prior to the biofilm formation. The antibiofilm property has been investigated by a Zone of Inhibition test and an in vitro biofilm formation analysis. Filtration tests have been performed as representative of possible applications for s-PBC coating. Results are reported and discussed.

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