Electrochemical dynamic sensing of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of microorganisms

Influence of Bacillus safensis and Bacillus pumilus on the electrochemical behavior of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy

In this work, electrochemical techniques were employed to evaluate the contribution to the corrosion and corrosion inhibition of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy by two Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, polarized impedance was used to determine the microbial effect on the cathodic and anodic reactions. These microorganisms were collected from a tropical environment due to the favorable bacterial growth of this kind of climate. The alloy was exposed to the sterile medium and inoculated for up to 12 days evaluating the microbiological and electrochemical behavior. The results by linear scanning voltammetry showed that the B. safensis and B. pumilus caused a dual effect of increase and decrease currents, and through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, showed in some cases, inductive loop, which could be associated with local corrosion and another case, an increasing impedance could be related to protection. In addition, a morphological characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy before and after exposure, showing an increase in copper precipitation in the vicinity of the intermetallic phases by bacteria, attributed to local corrosion, but, in general, a significant effect of damages was not observed.

Effect of pH on the Electrochemical Behavior of Hydrogen Peroxide in the Presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The influence of pH on the electrochemical behavior of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated using electrochemical techniques. Cyclic and square wave voltammetry were used to monitor the enzymatic activity. A modified cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) carbon electrode (OPG), a known catalyst for reducing O₂ to H₂O₂, was used to detect species resulting from the enzyme activity. The electrolyte was a sterilized aqueous medium containing Mueller-Hinton (MH) broth. The open-circuit potential (OCP) of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture in MH decreased rapidly with time, reaching a stable state after 4 h. Peculiarities in the E / I response were observed in voltammograms conducted in less than 4 h of exposure to the culture medium. Such particular E/I responses are due to the catalase's enzymatic action related to the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen, confirming the authors' previous findings related to the behavior of other catalase-positive microorganisms. The enzymatic activity exhibits maximum activity at pH 7.5, assessed by the potential at which oxygen is reduced to hydrogen peroxide. At higher or lower pHs, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurs at higher overpotentials, i.e., at more negative potentials. In addition, and to assess the influence of bacterial adhesion on the electrochemical behavior, measurements of the bacterial-substrate metal interaction were performed at different pH using atomic force microscopy.