There is an increasing interest in the role of bacterial exopolymers in microbially influenced corrosion reactions. As advanced analytical techniques become widely used to study microbial films on metals, considerable advances in our understanding of mechanisms of interaction can be made. This paper describes the application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to questions of metal-binding by bacterial exopolymers and the novel use of pyrolysis mass spectrometry to obtain pyrolysate signatures. Clear qualitative differences are obtained between exopolymers with different binding characteristics. These differences appear to correlate with chemical complexity and with the pyrolysis products of an organic acid. These data are discussed in light of current models of exopolymer-metal interactions.

Subject
Acids, Water, Materials, Ions, Binding energy, Pyrolysis, Metal surfaces, X-ray spectroscopy, Ion concentrations, Polymers, Metals, Carbon, Copper
© 1990 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1990
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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