The effect of metal microstructure on the initial attachment of Escherichia coli to 1010 carbon steel

Abstract

Metallurgical features have been shown to play an important role in the attachment of microorganisms to metal surfaces. In the present study, the influence of the microstructure of as-received (AR) and heat-treated (HT) 1010 carbon steel on the initial attachment of bacteria was investigated. Heat treatment was carried out with the aim of increasing the grain size of the carbon steel coupons. Mirror-polished carbon steel coupons were immersed in a minimal medium inoculated with Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) to investigate the early (15, 30 and 60 min) and relatively longer-term (4 h) stages of bacterial attachment. The results showed preferential colonisation of bacteria on the grain boundaries of the steel coupons. The bacterial attachment to AR steel coupons was relatively uniform compared to the HT steel coupons where an increased number of localised aggregates of bacteria were found. Quantitative analysis showed that the ratio of the total number of isolated (ie single) bacteria to the number of bacteria in aggregates was significantly higher on the AR coupons than the HT coupons. Longer-term immersion studies showed production of extracellular polymeric substances by the bacteria and corrosion at the grain boundaries on both types of steel coupon tested.

Keywords:

• bacterial attachment
• carbon steel
• grain boundaries
• heat treatment
• microstructure

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr M. Akbar Rhamdhani (Swinburne University) for providing support regarding heat treatment of metal samples, and Myintzu Hlaing (Swinburne University) for assistance in bacterial culturing and growth studies.