A Forensic Approach Towards Biofilm Management

生物膜管理的法医学方法膜已成为水和废水处理中许多应用的技术之一。然而，膜受到生物膜（biofilm）形成的影响，随着时间的推移会降低其吞吐量或处理效率。几十年来，生物膜抗性表面的发展一直是一个持续的研究目标，多种策略的尝试取得了不同程度的成功。然而，到目前为止，市面上还没有真正的抗生物膜材料。事实上，该领域的许多专家已经不再认为真正的抗生物膜表面是可以存在的，而是需要开发更好的生物膜管理方法。目前的生物膜管理实践依赖于化学清洗剂，而不是专门为特定的生物膜量身定制的，因此，清洁策略通常依赖于旨在测试“什么有效”的迭代过程。该项目将探索针对特定生物膜和收集器表面属性定制化学清洁策略，目的是将生物膜管理实践从试错过程转变为科学基础的活动，该活动依赖于对单个生物膜组分、收集器表面特性和不同清洁剂之间关系的深刻理解。该项目将提高对生物膜清洁方法的理解，并研究微生物生物膜不同元素之间的基本相互作用，收集器表面特性和不同的清洁剂，以开发变革性的生物膜管理实践。这项拟议工作的外联部分力求将研究和教育结合起来。具体来说，pi建议让河滨社区学院（Riverside Community College）的退伍军人通过暑期实习，进入令人兴奋的环境科学与工程领域。这些实习将提供体验式学习的机会，以激励和告知退伍军人环境工程的机会。在暑期实习结束时，河滨社区学院的学生将在加州大学河滨分校、本科生暑期研究研讨会和RCC上展示他们的作品。该项目的具体目标是：1)确定代表性清洗剂对单个生物膜组分的影响；2)评价集热器表面特性与单个生物膜组分之间的相互作用；3)测定微生物清洗后生物膜残留组分对再污染电位的影响；4)微生物管理实践优化。这些目标将通过细菌和表面分析技术的结合来实现，包括平行板流室、共聚焦显微镜和阻抗光谱。预计该项目将产生以下结果：1)了解特定清洗剂与微生物生物膜单个组分之间的相互作用，这将有助于设计更有效的清洁策略，用于微生物污染的表面，如水处理膜；2)更好地理解表面特性与单个生物膜组分之间的基本关系，这将为生物膜倾向表面（如膜）的工程提供信息；3)了解残留生物膜组分对集热器表面再污染的影响；4)基于对生物污染特性的法医调查以及针对特定生物膜成分优化的定制清洁方法的变革性生物膜管理策略。预期的结果可以应用于多种主要关注生物污染的情况，提高重要工业过程（如热交换器和膜基水处理过程）的效率。

Walker1437860A Forensic Approach Towards Biofilm ManagementMembranes are becoming one of the technologies of choice for many applications in water and wastewater treatment. However, membranes suffer from the formation of a biological film (biofilm) that over time decreases their throughput or treatment efficiency. The development of biofilm resistant surfaces has been an ongoing research objective for several decades, with multiple strategies attempted with varying degrees of success. However, to date, no truly biofilm resistant materials are commercially available. In fact, many experts in the field are moving away from the notion that truly biofilm resistant surfaces can even exist, and instead, better biofilm management practices need to be developed. Current biofilm management practices rely on chemical cleaning agents not specifically tailored for a given biofilm, and therefore, cleaning strategies often rely on an iterative process designed to test "what works". This project will explore the tailoring of chemical cleaning strategies to specific biofilm and collector surface attributes, with the purpose of transforming biofilm management practices from a trial-and-error process to a scientifically grounded activity that relies on deep understanding of the relationship between individual biofilm components, collector surface properties, and different cleaning agents. This project will improve the understanding of biofilm cleaning methods and study the fundamental interactions between different elements of a microbial biofilm, collector surface properties, and different cleaning agents with the goal of developing transformative biofilm management practices. The outreach portion of this proposed work seeks to integrate research and education. Specifically, the PIs propose engaging veterans at Riverside Community College in the exciting world of environmental science and engineering through summer internships. These internships will provide experiential learning opportunities to both motivate and inform the veterans in the opportunities in environmental engineering. At the end of the summer internship, the Riverside Community College students will present their work at the University of California Riverside, Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium and at RCC.The specific objectives of the project are: 1) determination of the impact of representative cleaning agents on individual biofilm components; 2) evaluation of the interactions between collector surface characteristics and individual biofilm components; 3) determination of the impact of residual components of biofilms after microbial cleaning on re-fouling potential; and 4) optimization of microbial management practices. These objectives will be met with a combination of bacterial and surficial analysis techniques including a parallel plate flow chamber, confocal microscopy, and impedance spectroscopy. It is expected that this project will produce the following outcomes: 1) an understanding of the interactions between specific cleaning agents and individual components of a microbial biofilm that will aid in the design of more efficient cleaning strategies for microbially fouled surfaces, such as water treatment membranes; 2) a better understanding of the fundamental relationship between surface properties and individual biofilm components that will inform the engineering of biofilm-prone surfaces, such as membranes; 3) an understanding of the impact of residual biofilm components on the re-fouling of collector surfaces; and 4) a transformative biofilm management strategy based on the forensic investigation of biofouled properties coupled with a tailored cleaning approach optimized to specific biofilm compositions. The expected outcomes can be applied in multiple situations where biofouling is a major concern, enhancing the efficiency of important industrial processes such as heat exchangers and membrane-based water treatment processes.