Microbial activity within biofilms

Liquid-fluidized beds predate gas-fluidized beds, but they have considerably fewer applications because of a smaller number of advantages. Most applications are physical, with bioreactors being the sole significant reactor application. Much of the recent attention has focused on aerobic wastewater treatment and fermentation processes, e.g., with methane as the organic substrate (see Refs. " for more details). In these processes, microbial cells are attached to the surface of inert particles (e.g., sand or activated carbon) as a biofilm, or trapped within the pores or interior of particles, causing the particle size and/or density to vary with time. Loaded particles therefore have... 

The increasing occurrence of microbial and nosocomial infection has stimulated research activities into antimicrobial polymers and textiles [19, 25, 34]. Most medical textiles and polymeric materials used in hospitals are conductive to crosstransmission of diseases, as most microorganisms can survive on these materials for hours to several months [17, 26]. Thus, it would be advantageous for polymeric surfaces and textile materials to exhibit antibacterial properties so as to reduce and prevent disease transmission and cross-contamination within and from hospitals. N-halamines exhibit a similar antimicrobial potency to chlorine bleach, one of the most widely used disinfectants, but they are much more stable, less corrosive and have a considerably reduced tendency to generate halogenated hydrocarbons, making them attractive candidates for the production of antimicrobial polymeric materials. N-halamine compounds are currently used as antimicrobial additives to produce polymers with antimicrobial and biofilm-limiting activities. 

Heterotrophic bacteria appear in great quantity in the course of water filtration through carbon filters as carbon is an ideal growth medium for these bacteria, which attach to the porous surface of the filter and obtain food by consuming adsorbed water contaminants. Under suitable conditions, they adapt to environment and grow as biofilm. The most suitable conditions for the growth of bacterial colonies occur in the mesoporous activated carbon filters. The substances for microbial consumption are effectively fixed and accumulated within these filters. 

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