Biofilm Analyses and Their Importance in Materials Science and Engineering

Biofilm is generally formed on various industrial materials by bacteria; the attachment process of bacteria onto materials and following interfacial phenomena are called biofouling. Biofilm causes beneficial and detrimental effects to the materials. In this paper, we first explain the interaction between biofilm and the materials. We then mention some problems concerning industrial materials caused by biofilm, and biofouling from the viewpoint of the interactions between biofilm and materials. We then cite some biological analyses, and clarify how different the analysis for planktonic bacteria is from that for biofilm bacteria. Finally, we mention our unique approaches to analyze biofilm and biofouling from the viewpoint of materials science and engineering. The paper is composed of the following points: 1, Introduction; 2, biofilm formation and metal elements; 3, various problems concerning materials science and engineering caused by biofilm; 4, biofilm analyses from the viewpoint of biology; 5, visualization analyses from the viewpoint of materials science and engineering; 6, conclusions.