Role of Oceanospirillum Exopolymer in Marine Copper Corrosion

摘要

The marine bacterium Oceanospirillum produces copious amounts of exopolymer whengrown on copper surfaces and has been shown to be involved in the corrosion of 99% copper. A study was undertaken to determine the nature of the exopolymer and its possible role in corrosion processes. Oceanospirillum was grown in small laminar flow cells with copper and 316 stainless steel as substrata. Exopolymer was harvested, purified, quantified and chemically characterized. Copper promoted greater polymer production than stainless steel. Exopolymers from both substrata contained glucose with no other sugar monomers or uronic acids.