UV emitting glass: A promising strategy for biofilm inhibition on transparent surfaces
Leila Alidokht,
Katrina Fitzpatrick,
Caitlyn Butler,
Kelli Z. Hunsucker,
Cierra Braga,
William A. Maza,
Kenan P. Fears,
Marieh Arekhi,
Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes
Affiliations
Leila Alidokht
Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
Katrina Fitzpatrick
Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
Caitlyn Butler
Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
Kelli Z. Hunsucker
Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
Cierra Braga
Center for Corrosion and Biofouling Control, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
William A. Maza
Chemistry Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
Kenan P. Fears
Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
Marieh Arekhi
Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes
Environmental and Water Resource Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA; Corresponding author.
Marine biofouling causes serious environmental problems and has adverse impacts on the maritime industry. Biofouling on windows and optical equipment reduces surface transparency, limiting their application for on-site monitoring or continuous measurement. This work illustrates that UV emitting glasses (UEGs) can prevent the establishment and growth of biofilm on the illuminated surfaces. Specifically, this paper describes how UEGs are enabled by innovatively modifying the surfaces of the glass with light scattering particles. Modification of glass surface with silica nanoparticles at a concentration 26.5 μg/cm2 resulted in over ten-fold increase in UV irradiance, while maintaining satisfactory visible and IR transparency metrics of over 99 %. The UEG reduced visible biological growth by 98 % and resulted in a decrease of 1.79 log in detected colony forming units when compared to the control during a 20 day submersion at Port Canaveral, Florida, United States. These findings serve as strong evidence that UV emitting glass should be explored as a promising approach for biofilm inhibition on transparent surfaces.
