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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Surface Potential Measurement of Bacteria Using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy
Published on: November 28, 2014
The influence of cell and substratum surface hydrophobicities on microbial attachment
Yu Liu1, Shu-Fang Yang, Yong Li
1Division of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore. cyliu@ntu.edu.sg
Abstract:
This study investigated the role of hydrophobic/hydrophilic interaction between bacterial and support surfaces in microbial adhesion, and a model that correlates microbial adhesion and relative cell-hydrophobicity defined as the ratio of cell-support surface hydrophobicity over cell-support hydrophilicity was derived. This model quantitatively describes how cell hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions affect microbial adhesion, and offers deep insights into the thermodynamic mechanisms of microbial adhesion. The proposed model was verified by literature data. It appears that a high cell-hydrophobicity strongly facilitates microbial adhesion on both hydrophobic and hydrophilic support surfaces.
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