Bacterial surface attachment and fouling assay on polymer and carbon surfaces using Rheinheimera sp. identified using bacteria community analysis of brackish water

Biofouling on surfaces in contact with sea- or brackish water can severely impact the function of devices like reverse osmosis modules. Single species laboratory assays are frequently used to test new low fouling materials. The choice of bacterial strain is guided by the natural population present in the application of interest and decides on the predictive power of the results. In this work, the analysis of the bacterial community present in brackish water from Mashabei Sadeh, Israel was performed and Rheinheimera sp. was detected as a prominent microorganism. A Rheinheimera strain was selected to establish a short-term accumulation assay to probe initial bacterial attachment as well as biofilm growth to determine the biofilm-inhibiting properties of coatings. Both assays were applied to model coatings, and technically relevant polymers including laser-induced graphene. This strategy might be applied to other water sources to better predict the fouling propensity of new coatings.

Automated summary

This study used a novel method to test the anti-fouling performance of new coatings and identified the key microorganism that influences fouling by analyzing the bacterial community in brackish water. This approach helps to accurately predict the fouling propensity of coatings.