Bacterial attachment on optical fibre surfaces

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Title: Bacterial attachment on optical fibre surfaces
Author(s): Mitek-Dineva, M.; Wang, J.; Truong, V. K.; Stoddart, P. R.; Alexander, M. R.; Albutt, D. J.; Fluke, C.; Crawford, R. J.; Ivanova, E. P.
Abstract: Optical fibres have received considerable attention as high-density sensor arrays suitable for both in vitro and in vivo measurements of biomolecules and biological processes in living organisms and/or nano-environments. The fibre surface was chemically modified by exposure to a selective etchant that preferentially erodes the fibre cores relative to the surrounding cladding material, thus producing a regular pattern of cylindrical wells of approximately 2.5 μm in diameter and 2.5 μm deep. The surface hydrophobicity of the etched and non-etched optical fibres was analysed using the sessile pico-drop method. The surface topography was characterised by atomic force microscopy (AFM), while the surface chemistry was probed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Six taxonomically different bacterial strains showed a consistent preference for attachment to the nano-scale smoother (Rq = 273 nm), non-etched fibre surfaces (water contact angle, θ = 106° ± 4°). In comparison, the surfaces of the etched optical fibres (water contact angle, θ = 96° ± 10°) were not found to be amenable to bacterial attachment. Bacterial attachment on the non-etched optical fibre substrata varied among different strains.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences. Industrial Research Institute Swinburne
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences. Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
Source: Biofouling, Vol. 26, no. 4 (May 2010), pp. 461-471
Publication year: 2010
FOR Code(s): 0605 Microbiology; 0911 Maritime Engineering; 1002 Environmental Biotechnology
Keyword(s): Bacterial attachment; Micro-nanostructured surfaces; Optical fibres
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISSN: 0892-7014
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08927011003753399
Peer reviewed