[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Skip to Main Content

Latest News

March 29, 2010
Volume 88, Number 13
p. 21
Article appeared online March 24, 2010
Updated March 25, 2010, 11:30 a.m.

Bacterial Sugars Battle Corrosion

ACS Meeting News: Environmentally friendly coatings made of polysaccharides protect metal from rusting

Sophie L. Rovner

NEARLY FIXED Atomic force microscopy shows that a scratch in a polysaccharide coating on a steel plate (left) has partially healed after being moistened with water for 30 seconds and then dried (right). Courtesy of Victoria Finkenstadt
NEARLY FIXED Atomic force microscopy shows that a scratch in a polysaccharide coating on a steel plate (left) has partially healed after being moistened with water for 30 seconds and then dried (right).
  • Print this article
  • Email the editor

Latest News



October 28, 2011

Speedy Homemade-Explosive Detector

Forensic Chemistry: A new method could increase the number of explosives detected by airport screeners.

Solar Panel Makers Cry Foul

Trade: U.S. companies complain of market dumping by China.

Novartis To Cut 2,000 Jobs

Layoffs follow similar moves by Amgen, AstraZeneca.

Nations Break Impasse On Waste

Environment: Ban to halt export of hazardous waste to developing world.

New Leader For Lawrence Livermore

Penrose (Parney) Albright will direct DOE national lab.

Hair Reveals Source Of People's Exposure To Mercury

Toxic Exposure: Mercury isotopes in human hair illuminate dietary and industrial sources.

Why The Long Fat?

Cancer Biochemistry: Mass spectrometry follows the metabolism of very long fatty acids in cancer cells.

Text Size A A

Bacteria that grow on metal exposed to moisture often secrete proteins and carbohydrates that accelerate corrosion, but a few bacteria emit compounds that retard corrosion. Research chemist Victoria L. Finkenstadt and colleagues at USDA's National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, in Peoria, Ill., have now identified three strains of bacteria that produce these beneficial compounds and have also determined the compounds’ structures.

The researchers showed that three Leuconostoc mesenteroides strains produce anticorrosion polysaccharides that can be collected from, say, a bioreactor, and then dispersed in water and sprayed on steel. This type of coating could be applied under paint to prevent metal equipment from rusting. Or it could be used as a substitute for the half-inch-thick wax coat currently used to protect steel rods during transit, Finkenstadt told C&EN. That wax must be removed before the rods are used and must be treated as toxic waste because it contains heavy metals, she said. The 50- to 500-nm-thick polysaccharide coating, on the other hand, could be left on the metal or chewed up by an enzyme to create harmless sugar water.

The coatings are self-healing, so a scratch fixes itself in about 15 seconds with the help of a squirt of water. The polysaccharides can even protect nearby uncoated metal, so even if a scratch can't heal completely, the exposed metal might still be safe. The researchers continue to assess the materials’ durability and to determine whether the polysaccharides can stop corrosion that’s already under way.

USDA is patenting the work so it can license the technology to companies interested in commercializing it.

Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
  • Print this article
  • Email the editor

Services & Tools

ACS Resources

ACS is the leading employment source for recruiting scientific professionals. ACS Careers and C&EN Classifieds provide employers direct access to scientific talent both in print and online. Jobseekers | Employers

» Join ACS

Join more than 161,000 professionals in the chemical sciences world-wide, as a member of the American Chemical Society.
» Join Now!