Biofilm formation and growth on submerged surfaces causes numerous operational problems, ranging from hindering diffusion of pollutants to electrode surfaces during electrochemical water treatment to harboring pathogens in indoor plumbing. This work evaluates electrochemical biofilm dispersion kinetics from boron-doped diamond (BDD) surfaces in situ using optical coherence tomography microscopy to track the volume of biofilm (biovolume) on the electrode. After starting with a 75 μm thick biofilm, applying 50 mA cm⁻² results in near complete biofilm removal after 60 min, with a pseudo first-order biovolume removal rate of 0.023 min⁻¹; higher applied currents had negligible additional benefits. Thus, it appears plausible to attain biofouling mitigation through electrochemical self-cleaning of BDD electrodes, potentially via the following two-step process: 1) hydroxyl radical production on the electrode surface which oxidizes polysaccharides or other cellular materials that attach bacteria to surface, followed by 2) gas evolution on the electrode surface (beneath the biofilm), which pushes and sloughs off the biofilm. This novel approach to biofouling management can find applications in electrochemical water treatment and other important surfaces (e.g., electrodes, membrane spacers, heat exchange surfaces, interior pipe surfaces, etc.) in water treatment systems where biofilms develop and harbor microbial pathogens.

在水下表面上生物膜的形成和生长会引起许多操作问题，从阻碍电化学水处理过程中污染物扩散到电极表面到在室内管道中掩盖病原体。这项工作使用光学相干断层扫描显微镜来追踪电极上生物膜的体积（生物体积），从而评估原位掺硼金刚石（BDD）表面的电化学生物膜分散动力学。从75μm厚的生物膜开始后，施加50 mA cm ^-2的结果将在60分钟后几乎完全去除生物膜，伪一级生物体积去除率为0.023 min ^-1; 更高的施加电流带来的额外好处微不足道。因此，似乎有可能通过BDD电极的电化学自清洁来减轻生物污染，可能是通过以下两步过程：1）在电极表面产生羟基自由基，该自由基氧化多糖或将细菌附着在表面的其他细胞材料，然后2）气体在电极表面（生物膜下方）逸出，推动并脱落生物膜。这种新颖的生物污损管理方法可以应用于电化学水处理以及生物膜形成并带有微生物病原体的水处理系统中的其他重要表面（例如电极，膜垫片，热交换表面，内部管道表面等）。