Conditioning films that form on surfaces tend to lower the energy-state of the surface and the rate of biofouling decreases proportionally. The discs used in the biofilms and biodiversity lab are made from a polymer represented by the initials PMMA or polymethylmethacrylate. The common trade names for this material are Perspex, Lucite, and Plexiglas. Some other uses of PMMA are covers on automobile headlight, airplane canopies, and sneeze-guards over salad bars. In the solid state, it can be used to make dentures.
Proteins are natural adhesives, developed over millions of years.
Proteins will recognize and stick to all types of surfaces natural and man-made. This sticking is similar to the proteins of the immune system that attach to and deactivate foreign bodies within an individual. The molecular surface that proteins have the least attraction to are those made from closely packed methyl groups, CH3, which are similar to those found in cell membranes. What is left is a thin, tight, glue line to which pioneering microbes and larvae and spores will attach substantially more strongly than to the juicy, hydrated, fluffy proteins attached only tentatively to the adjacent methyl groups. The methyl groups keep the material supple and non-brittle and allow the polymer chains to slide over one another on the surface.