The present study was undertaken to investigate microbial influenced corrosion (MIC) on stainless steels due to thermophilic bacteria Desulfotomaculum nigrificans. The objective of the study was to measure the extent of corrosion and correlate it with the growth of the biofilm by monitoring the composition of its extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The toxic effect of heavy metals on MIC was also observed. For this purpose, stainless steels 304L, 316L and 2205 were subjected to electrochemical polarization and immersion tests in the modified Baar’s media, control and inoculated, in anaerobic conditions at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to identify the chemicals present in/outside the pit. The results show maximum corrosive conditions when bacterial activity is highest, which in turn minimizes the amount of carbohydrate and protein along with the increase in the fraction of uronic acid in carbohydrate in EPS of the biofilm. However, although bacterial activity and corrosion rate decreases, the amount of biofilm components continue to increase. It is also observed that the toxicity of metals ions affect the bacterial activity and EPS production. It was observed that Desulfotomaculum sp. has the ability to biodegrade its own EPS.
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