Polymer Brush Made by Ionic Liquids and the Inhibition Effects for Biofilm Formation

Abstract

A type of polymer brush, made from an ionic liquid, was prepared and used to investigate the behavior and tendency of biofilm formation. The polymer brush specimens were immersed into the wells of microtiter plates filled with culture liquids containing bacteria. Two different combinations of bacteria and liquid cultures were used for this experiment. One was LB liquid medium with E-coli and the other was Heart Infusion liquid medium with S.epidermidis. After the specimens were immersed for a certain amount of time, they were removed from the test wells and evaluated for biofilm formation. The evaluation methods used were Raman Spectroscopy and crystal violet staining. Polymer brush specimens generally showed biofilm formations for specimens tested in both bacterial cases. However, both of these biofilms could be removed, when the specimens were immersed in water for a couple of hours. Probably the use of special polymer brushes will be valuable in the future, for controlling biofilm and related contaminants on a variety of materials and components.