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Alidokht L, Fitzpatrick K, Butler C, Hunsucker KZ, Braga C, Maza WA, Fears KP, Arekhi M, Lanzarini-Lopes M. UV emitting glass: A promising strategy for biofilm inhibition on transparent surfaces. Biofilm 2024; 7:100186. [PMID: 38495771 PMCID: PMC10940134 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioflm.2024.100186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Marine biofouling causes serious environmental problems and has adverse impacts on the maritime industry. Biofouling on windows and optical equipment reduces surface transparency, limiting their application for on-site monitoring or continuous measurement. This work illustrates that UV emitting glasses (UEGs) can prevent the establishment and growth of biofilm on the illuminated surfaces. Specifically, this paper describes how UEGs are enabled by innovatively modifying the surfaces of the glass with light scattering particles. Modification of glass surface with silica nanoparticles at a concentration 26.5 μg/cm2 resulted in over ten-fold increase in UV irradiance, while maintaining satisfactory visible and IR transparency metrics of over 99 %. The UEG reduced visible biological growth by 98 % and resulted in a decrease of 1.79 log in detected colony forming units when compared to the control during a 20 day submersion at Port Canaveral, Florida, United States. These findings serve as strong evidence that UV emitting glass should be explored as a promising approach for biofilm inhibition on transparent surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Alidokht
- Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Katrina Fitzpatrick
- Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Caitlyn Butler
- Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Kelli Z. Hunsucker
- Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
| | - Cierra Braga
- Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
| | - William A. Maza
- Chemistry Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kenan P. Fears
- Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Marieh Arekhi
- Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes
- Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
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