Abstract
Corrosion of metallic alloys is a concern worldwide, with impacts affecting different production sectors and consequent economic losses in the order of billions of dollars annually. Biocorrosion is a form of corrosion where the participation of microorganisms can induce, accelerate, or inhibit corrosive processes. In this study, it was evaluated that the changes in profile communities, by the sequencing of the 16S ribosomal gene, grown over steel coupons in a microcosm with no additional oxygen supplementation for 120 days. Analysis of abundance and diversity indices indicates marked changes in microbial structures throughout the 120-day period. Homology results of OTUs generated by Illumina sequencing indicated Proteobacteria phylum as the dominant group, comprising about 85.3% of the total OTUs, followed by Firmicutes and Bacteriodetes, both with 7.35%. Analyses at lower taxonomic levels suggested the presence of representatives described as corroders, such as Citreicella thiooxidans, Thalassospira sp., and Limnobacter thiooxidans. In conclusion, the results suggest that no additional oxygen supplementation profoundly altered the core of microbial communities, with a predominance of facultative anaerobic species.
Highlights
Corrosion of metals is a complex process that involves abiotic factors, such as temperature, physical and chemical stresses, and biotic factors through the direct and indirect action of microorganisms
The results showing the differences between the community structures of the analyzed microcosms can be seen in the rarefaction curve analysis with the same characteristics as those exhibited in the previous results (Fig. 2)
Several environmental factors related to microbial metabolism influence the acceleration, induction, and inhibition of metal corrosion
Summary
Corrosion of metals is a complex process that involves abiotic factors, such as temperature, physical and chemical stresses, and biotic factors through the direct and indirect action of microorganisms. The process of metal deterioration happens when the surface acts with an anodic site, transferring electrons from the zero-valent metal to a cathodic site, in this case, the bacterial biofilm (Hamilton 2003). This redox reaction would occur in abiotic corrosion; the MIC allows to accelerate the whole process up to 1000× (Melchers and Jeffrey 2013; Marty et al 2014). Microorganisms can induce corrosion by altering pH and oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) in the secretion of corrosive metabolites or even directly acting in oxidation-reduction reactions through extracellular enzymes (Little et al 2007)
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