Demonstration of biofilm removal from type 304 stainless steel using pulsed-waveform electropolishing

• Published in: Biofouling (Chur, Switzerland) Vol. 34; no. 7; pp. 731 - 739
• Main Authors: Wijesinghe, Mahadurage Sachintha, Wen, Jianchuan, Oh, Jung-Min, Chow, Kwok-Fan, Sun, Yuyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 09.08.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Austenitic stainless steels; Biofilm removal; Biofilms; electrochemical; Electrochemical Techniques - methods; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; electropolishing; Metals; Methods; Organic chemistry; oxidation; potential pulse/reverse pulse; Removal; Saline solutions; Stainless Steel; Staphylococcus epidermidis; oxidation; electrochemical; potential pulse/reverse pulse; electropolishing; stainless steel; Biofilm removal
• ISSN: 0892-7014; 1029-2454
• DOI: 10.1080/08927014.2018.1492715

This article describes an electrochemical method to remove bacterial biofilm from a stainless steel (SS) surface using a potential pulse/reverse pulse technique. This technique employs a periodic waveform that consists of anodic and cathodic pulses. The pulses can effectively strip a thin layer of metal off the SS surface, along with the adherent biofilm, in a saline solution. Not only can the pulses effectively remove biofilm from the SS surface, but they also regenerate the original mirror-like shiny surface. The importance of this electrochemical biofilm removal method is its wide applicability for any types of biofilms. That is, instead of directly removing the biofilm, it removes a very thin layer of the metal under the biofilm. Thus, the removal process is independent to the nature of the biofilms. Furthermore, this electrochemical biofilm removal method is rapid (less than 30 s of potential pulse time) and does not require hazardous chemicals.