Enhancement of bacterial growth with the help of immiscible oxygenated oils

Bacterial growth in an aqueous medium in the vicinity of the interface with an immiscible oxygenated fluid is a subject of this study. We analyse the impact of fluids with oxygen solubility much higher than that of water, on the growth rate of Escherichia coli in shaken simple culture tubes. The measurements were conducted continuously in an incubator with the use of a custom-designed detector of scattered light. As a result, we show that oxygenated immiscible fluids transfer oxygen across the interfaces to enhance the maximum growth rate of bacteria, in some cases even to double it. In the present study, we probed six fluids, including hexadecane, silicone oil, fluorinated liquids: FC-40, FC-70, and hydrofluoroethers (HFE): HFE-7200 and HFE-7500. The mechanisms of interfacial phenomena of physio-chemical and hydrodynamic nature have been elucidated.