Use of sputter-deposited 316l-stainless steel ultrathin films for microbial-influenced corrosion studies

Abstract

Ultra thin films (12nm) were sputter deposited onto cylindrical germanium internal reflection elements pre-coated with a thin (2nm) layer of Cr2O3. Two crystals were inserted into Circle cell flow-through chambers and mounted on the optical bench of an Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer. One chamber was maintained as a sterile control while the other was sequentially inoculated with four bacterial species: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtillis, Hafnia alvei, and Desulfovibrio gigas, in that order. The water absorption band (1640cm−1) was monitored and used to follow the deterioration of the ultra thin films. In this respect, the sterile control and inoculated films exhibited only slight differences during the 1000h course of the experiment. Assay of the visible biofilm that had accumulated on the surface of the inoculated crystal after 1000h revealed that the film incorporated viable cells from all four strains.