Influence of biofilms on the transport of colloidsand contaminants through porous mediaVom Fachbereich Chemieder Universität DuisburgEssenzur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einesDoktors der Naturwissenschaftengenehmigte DissertationvonCarlos Felipe Leon MoralesausBogotá, KolumbienDatum der Einreichung: 21.12.2007Tag der Prüfung: 08.04.2008Referent: Prof. Dr. H.C. FlemmingKorreferenten: Prof. Dr. U. FörstnerPhD Dr. I. Beechto Mariël...AcknowledgmentsHere I would like to thank all the persons that in one way or another were involved withme during this investigation. First of all I’m very thankful to all the technicians andfellow PhD students from the Biofilm Centre for their patience and helpfulness when Ineeded to find my way in a completely new environment. It was hard at times, but overall, it was a wonderful experience to have shared an important part of my professionallife with all of you.ToProf. HansCurtFlemmingI’mgratefulforthisgreatopportunityinasubjectthatwasnewformebutfromwhichIlearnedalot. I’mthankfulforhistrustandthecontinuouswilling to count with me on new challenges.I’m grateful to Prof. Ulrich Förstner for accepting the task of being my coadviser andforfriendlyandusefuldiscussionduringthevariousprojectmeetingsalloverGermany.To Andrew Leis who was always interested, always available and who helped me somuch at the beginning, thanks for introducing me to the project and for many hours ofinteresting discussion.