Dataset Information

Bacterial attachment and biofilm formation on surfaces are reduced by small-diameter nanoscale pores: how small is small enough?

ABSTRACT:

Background/objectives

Prevention of biofilm formation by bacteria is of critical importance to areas that directly affect human health and life including medicine, dentistry, food processing and water treatment. This work showcases an effective and affordable solution for reducing attachment and biofilm formation by several pathogenic bacteria commonly associated with foodborne illnesses and medical infections.

Methods

Our approach exploits anodisation to create alumina surfaces with cylindrical nanopores with diameters ranging from 15 to 100?nm, perpendicular to the surface. The anodic surfaces were evaluated for attachment by Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Cell-surface interaction forces were calculated and related to attachment.

Results

We found that anodic alumina surfaces with pore diameters of 15 and 25?nm were able to effectively minimise bacterial attachment or biofilm formation by all the microorganisms tested. Using a predictive physicochemical approach on the basis of the extended Derjaguin and Landau, Verwey and Overbeek (XDLVO) theory, we attributed the observed effects largely to the repulsive forces, primarily electrostatic and acid-base forces, which were greatly enhanced by the large surface area originating from the high density, small-diameter pores. We also demonstrate how this predictive approach could be used to optimise different elements of surface topography, particularly pore diameter and density, for further enhancing the observed bacteria-repelling effects.

Conclusions

We demonstrate that anodic nanoporous surfaces can effectively reduce bacterial attachment. These findings are expected to have immediate, far-reaching implications and commercial applications, primarily in health care and the food industry.

SUBMITTER: Feng G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5515209 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Bacterial attachment and biofilm formation on surfaces are reduced by small-diameter nanoscale pores: how small is small enough?

Feng Guoping G Cheng Yifan Y Wang Shu-Yi SY Borca-Tasciuc Diana A DA Worobo Randy W RW Moraru Carmen I CI

NPJ biofilms and microbiomes 20151202

<h4>Background/objectives</h4>Prevention of biofilm formation by bacteria is of critical importance to areas that directly affect human health and life including medicine, dentistry, food processing and water treatment. This work showcases an effective and affordable solution for reducing attachment and biofilm formation by several pathogenic bacteria commonly associated with foodborne illnesses and medical infections.<h4>Methods</h4>Our approach exploits anodisation to create alumina surfaces w ...[more]

PMID: 28721236

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Dataset Information

Bacterial attachment and biofilm formation on surfaces are reduced by small-diameter nanoscale pores: how small is small enough?

Background/objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Bacterial attachment and biofilm formation on surfaces are reduced by small-diameter nanoscale pores: how small is small enough?

Similar Datasets

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