The course is aimed at all those microbiologists interested in the field of biodeterioration and biodegradation of materials. It is also aimed at students in the final years of degrees in science (Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Environmental Biology, Environmental Sciences) and engineering (Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Industrial Technology Engineering, Civil Engineering, etc. .), as well as master's and doctoral students and senior technicians in Vocational Training in Industrial Chemistry and in Analysis and Quality Control Laboratories.

All materials are susceptible to undergoing a biodeterioration or biodegradation process, understood as those that produce an undesirable change in the materials caused by the activity of living beings. The chemical, electrical, petrochemical, naval, etc. industries, as well as the historical and cultural heritage, may be affected. The cost of all this, apart from the environmental problems associated in most cases, has been estimated to be around 3-5% of the gross domestic product, which is why there is a need to study it to prevent it.

The teachers of this course are doctors in Pharmacy and Biology and based on our training and teaching and research experience in environmental issues and our industrial experience, we hope to have prepared a pleasant and simple syllabus that you find interesting and that you can follow without difficulty whatever your training.

If you are interested in this training and want to know all the details about its content and operation, you can do so by sending an email to the course coordinators (Ana M. Garcia, Diego A. Moreno).

goals

The purpose of this course is to learn the meaning and importance of the biodeterioration and biodegradation processes of materials. The materials are susceptible to being colonized by living beings (mainly by microorganisms), modifying the properties for which they were designed. Knowledge of these processes will allow us to control them in order to lengthen or shorten, depending on our interests, the life of the materials. The learning objectives of the course are:

• Understand the concept of biofilm and analyze and distinguish the effects, both beneficial and harmful, of its development on different materials and in different environments (biofouling, biodeterioration and biodegradation).
• Recognize the symptoms of biodeterioration of materials in different natural and industrial environments and the main causal agents.
• Know about the biodeterioration of buildings, infrastructure and transportation.
• Become aware of the biodeterioration of assets that constitute historical heritage.
• Know the possible prevention mechanisms and treatment techniques for biodeterioration and identify the elements involved in its investigation.

Agenda

The course program consists of twelve teaching units grouped into five modules. Module I explains the basic concepts of biodeterioration and biodegradation, as well as the phenomena of biofilm formation and biofouling necessary for them to develop. Module II focuses on the biodeterioration of natural materials, including cellulose, stone, wood and also addresses the corrosion of metallic materials and the biodegradation of polymeric materials. Module III is applied to the biodeterioration of buildings, infrastructures and the particular case of historical heritage. Module IV details the prevention and control techniques for biodeterioration and its research and testing methods. In the last module, Module V, five practical cases carried out in our BIO-MAT Research Group (UPM) on biofouling, biodeterioration and microbial corrosion are presented, three of them of industrial interest and two related to historical-cultural heritage.

Module I: Biodeterioration, biodegradation and biofilms

1. Concepts of biodeterioration and biodegradation
2. Basics of biofilms

Module II: Biodeterioration and biodegradation of natural and industrial materials

3. Biodeterioration of natural materials
4. Wood biodegradation
5. Microbial corrosion of steels
6. Biodegradation of plastics and rubbers

Module III: Biodeterioration of infrastructure and historical heritage

7. Biodeterioration of buildings, infrastructure and transport
8. Biodeterioration of historical heritage

Module IV: Prevention, detection and trials

9. Prevention and control of biodeterioration
10. Detection and identification of biodeteriorators
11. Biodeterioration tests

Module V: Practical cases

12. Practical cases of biodeterioration and biodegradation