Abstract
The design of surfaces that prevent biofouling through their physical structure and chemical properties provides a potential solution to increase their hygienic status. A picosecond laser was used to produce hierarchical textures on stainless steel. The surface topography, chemistry and wettability were characterised. The Sa, and wettability of the surfaces all increased when compared to the control following laser treatment. The Sa, Sq and Spv values ranged between 0.02μm–1.16μm, 0.02μm–1.30μm and 0.82μm–9.84μm respectively whilst the wettability of the surfaces ranged between 99.5°–160°. Following microbial assays, the work demonstrated that on all the surfaces, following attachment, adhesion and retention assays, the number of Escherichia coli on the laser textured surfaces was reduced. One surface was demonstrated to be the best antiadhesive surface, which alongside being superhydrophobic (154.30°) had the greatest Sa and Spv (1.16μm; 6.17μm) values, and the greatest peak (21.63μm) and valley (21.41μm) widths. This study showed that the surface roughness, feature geometry, chemistry and physicochemistry all interplayed to affect bacterial attachment, adhesion and retention Such a modified stainless steel surface may have the ability to reduce specific fouling in an industrial context.
Highlights
Biofouling on surfaces can produce a number of economic and potential contamination problems in a variety of industries including the food industry (Whitehead and Verran, 2009)
This study showed that the surface roughness, feature geometry, chemistry and physicochemistry all interplayed to affect bacterial attachment, adhesion and retention Such a modified stainless steel surface may have the ability to reduce specific fouling in an industrial context
This paper focuses on the production of a range of hierarchical topographies generated using a novel picosecond laser ablation process and the effect of the altered surface properties on bacterial attachment, adhesion and retention
Summary
Biofouling on surfaces can produce a number of economic and potential contamination problems in a variety of industries including the food industry (Whitehead and Verran, 2009). Bacterial attachment is the prerequisite to such fouling and is followed by bacterial adhesion and retention on a surface. This may result in the decline of the hygienic status of a surface resulting in potential risks to food quality, product contamination and/or spoilage and blockages of mechanical components (Whitehead et al, 2015). Some studies have reported that there is a correlation between surfaces roughness and bacterial attachment whereby the retention of
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