ABSTRACT
A simple, rapid, low-cost method was proposed for the imaging of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms on metallic surfaces using an infrared camera. Stainless steel coupons were cooled to generate a thermal gradient in relation to biofilm for active thermography (AT). Both cooling and image acquisition times were optimized and the images obtained with AT were compared with those from scanning electron microscopy. A free software (Thermofilm) was developed for image processing and the results were compared with the software ImageJ, with good agreement (from 87.7 to 103.8%). Images of coupons treated with sanitizer (peracetic acid) were obtained to show the applicability of the proposed method for biofilm studies. All analytical steps could be performed in 3 min in a noncontact, nondestructive, low-cost, portable, and easy-to-use way.
Subject(s)
Stainless Steel/chemistry , Thermography , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Biofilms/drug effects , Food Microbiology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Peracetic Acid/pharmacology , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/drug effects , Surface PropertiesABSTRACT
This work developed a new technique and an application of an existing approach to determine sodium in food sauces, involving enthalpimetric reactions in the infrared. Infrared Thermometric Titration (TT-IR) was utilized, with simple analyzers and low-cost measurement instruments for the acquisition of the surface temperature generated in the sodium precipitation reaction and development of software for the acquisition and processing of data using Raspberry Pi. The sodium was also quantified by Thermal Infrared Enthalpimetry (TIE), a recently developed technique. The rapid and simple quantification of sodium by the TT-IR and TIE showed the possibility of a selective reaction for sodium, using aluminum nitrate, potassium and ammonium fluoride in an acid medium, with reduction of the reagents and without the digestion step in the sample preparation. The results acquired through TT-IR and TIE corroborated the Flame Atomic Emission Spectrometry (FAES) with 96 to 103% and 95 to 102%, respectively.
