Removal of biofilms by intermittent low-intensity ultrasonication triggered bursting of microbubbles |
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| Authors: | Ashutosh Agarwal Wun Jern Ng |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Division of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore;2. Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Singapore 637141, Singapore |
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| Abstract: | In this study, a chemical-free cleaning method for biofilms removal is presented, which is based on intermittent low-intensity ultrasonication (US) triggered bursting of microbubbles (MB) in such a sequence that MB were continuously introduced into the reaction vessel for 15?min, while US was activated for 2?s after every 2?min of microbubbling. It was found that the fixed biomass, and the extracellular proteins and polysaccharides of 24-h old biofilms grown on a nylon membrane surface were reduced, respectively, by 75, 79 and 72% after treatment by the US?+?MB method. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis further revealed that the chemical composition of the biofilms was not altered by the US?+?MB treatment, suggesting that biofilms were removed through physical forces due to the generation of a shock wave and a high-speed water jet through US-triggered bursting of the MB. The proposed method can be considered a chemical-free technology for biofilm removal. |
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| Keywords: | microbubble ultrasound biofilm membrane biofouling EPS |
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