A New Concept for Development of Quartz Crystal Microbalance Fire Prevention Sensors Modified with Nano-Assembled Thin Films

In this report, we describe a new concept for the development of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) fire prevention sensors modified with nano-assembled thin films. The first example is the fabrication of QCM gas sensors based on alternate adsorption of TiO2and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) for the sensitive detection of amine odors. The QCM sensors showed a linear response to ammonia at concentrations of 0.3--15 ppm, depending on the deposition cycle of the alternate TiO2/PAA layers. Ammonia binding is based on acid--base interaction with the free carboxylic acid groups of PAA, and the limit of detection of the 20-cycle TiO2/PAA400film under exposure to ammonia was estimated to be 0.1 ppm. The second example, monitoring of relative humidity, used porphyrin-based nano-assembled thin films prepared by a layer-by-layer approach on QCM resonators. These films were also used to detect significant environmental changes (due to smoke, humidity, or hazardous material release), and the results revealed that QCM-based real-environment monitoring devices can be implemented.

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Fabrication of methane gas sensor by layer-by-layer self-assembly of polyaniline/PdO ultra thin films on quartz crystal microbalance

Sensors and Actuators B Chemical ◽

10.1016/j.snb.2009.12.035 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 145 (1) ◽

pp. 373-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Guangzhong Xie ◽

Ping Sun ◽

Xiaolei Yan ◽

Xiaosong Du ◽

Yadong Jiang

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Gas Sensor ◽

Quartz Crystal Microbalance ◽

Self Assembly ◽

Quartz Crystal ◽

Layer By Layer ◽

Methane Gas

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Evaluation of a PAH/PSS Layer-by-Layer Deposited Film Using a Quartz-Crystal-Microbalance and Surface-Plasmon-Resonance Hybrid Sensor

IEICE Transactions on Electronics ◽

10.1587/transele.e98.c.136 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol E98.C (2) ◽

pp. 136-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Keisuke KAWACHI ◽

Kazunari SHINBO ◽

Yasuo OHDAIRA ◽

Akira BABA ◽

Keizo KATO ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Plasmon Resonance ◽

Surface Plasmon ◽

Quartz Crystal Microbalance ◽

Plasmon Resonance ◽

Quartz Crystal ◽

Layer By Layer ◽

Deposited Film ◽

Resonance Hybrid

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A Real-Time Method for Improving Stability of Monolithic Quartz Crystal Microbalance Operating under Harsh Environmental Conditions

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21124166 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (12) ◽

pp. 4166

Author(s):

Román Fernández ◽

María Calero ◽

Yolanda Jiménez ◽

Antonio Arnau

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Quartz Crystal Microbalance ◽

Quartz Crystal ◽

Limit Of Detection ◽

Quartz Substrate ◽

Low Cost ◽

Discrete Wavelet ◽

Reagent Consumption ◽

Measurement Cell ◽

The Stability

Monolithic quartz crystal microbalance (MQCM) has recently emerged as a very promising technology suitable for biosensing applications. These devices consist of an array of miniaturized QCM sensors integrated within the same quartz substrate capable of detecting multiple target analytes simultaneously. Their relevant benefits include high throughput, low cost per sensor unit, low sample/reagent consumption and fast sensing response. Despite the great potential of MQCM, unwanted environmental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, vibrations, or pressure) and perturbations intrinsic to the sensor setup (e.g., mechanical stress exerted by the measurement cell or electronic noise of the characterization system) can affect sensor stability, masking the signal of interest and degrading the limit of detection (LoD). Here, we present a method based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to improve the stability of the resonance frequency and dissipation signals in real time. The method takes advantage of the similarity among the noise patterns of the resonators integrated in an MQCM device to mitigate disturbing factors that impact on sensor response. Performance of the method is validated by studying the adsorption of proteins (neutravidin and biotinylated albumin) under external controlled factors (temperature and pressure/flow rate) that simulate unwanted disturbances.

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