The present study focuses on a combined spectroelectrochemical approach, melding methods of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and electrochemical techniques, to investigate the chemical characteristics and redox activities of electroactive bacteria during the initial stages of biofilm formation. Gold has been selected as a model substrate due to its inert character, considerably high surface enhancement factor, as well as its capability to allow surface chemistry modifications and substrate polarization in order to precisely control the surface charge. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies have been performed for quantitative determination of flavin concentration and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has been utilized to study the changes in electrochemical processes within biofilms during different stages of growth. Shewanellasp. have been chosen as microorganisms within this work due to their versatile exoelectrogenic respiratory behavior and their distinct ability to reduce metals via extracellular electron transfer mechanisms involving self-secreted electron shuttle redox molecules such as flavins. To further explicate the process of diffusion of flavins within biofilms, a model system has been developed to simulate the structural features of the bacterial extracellular polymeric substances typically found in biofilms. This has been achieved by creating hydrogel films comprised of calcium-cross-linked alginate. The results demonstrate an interplay of factors contributing to the initial phases of bacterial settlement and biofilm formation as a function of environmental parameters. Furthermore, the results allow insight into the diffusion of flavins, much like they would in a natural biofilm, and how their redox behavior affects the biofilm development.
