A High-Q Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Mass Sensitivity up to 1017 Hz/kg

A high-Q quartz crystal microbalance(QCM)sensor with a fundamental resonance frequency of 210 MHz is developed based on inverted mesa technology.The mass sensitivity reaches 5.332×10^17 Hz/kg at the center of the electrode,which is 5-7 orders of magnitude higher than the commonly used 5 MHz or 10 MHz QCMs(their mass sensitivity is 10^10-10^12 Hz/kg).This mass sensitivity is confirmed by an experiment of plating 1-ng rigid aluminium films on the surface of the QCM sensor.By comparing the changes in QCM equivalent parameters before and after coating the aluminum films,it is found that the QCM sensor maintains the high-Q characteristics of the quartz crystal while the mass sensitivity is significantly improved.Therefore,this QCM sensor may be used as a promising analytical tool for applications requiring high sensitivity detection.

Analysis and Verification of the Relationship between the Maximum Mass Sensitivity of Quartz Crystal Microbalance and Electrode Parameters

We analyze the effect of electrode diameter and thickness on the mass sensitivity. Through the theoretical approximate calculation, we find that the mass sensitivity does not change monotonically with electrode diameter and there is a maximum point. The optimum electrode diameter corresponding to the maximum mass sensitivity varies with the electrode thickness. For a particular electrode diameter, a quartz crystal microbalance(QCM)with thick electrode has a higher mass sensitivity. A proper plating experiment using 35 QCMs with different electrode diameters and thicknesses verifies this finding. The present study further reveals how electrode size affects mass sensitivity and is helpful for QCM design.

Nanodiamond/Ti_(3)C_(2) MXene-coated quartz crystal microbalance humidity sensor with high sensitivity and high quality factor

To address the challenge of achieving both high sensitivity and a high quality factor in quartz crystal microbalance(QCM)humidity sensors,a nanodiamond(ND)/Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene composite-coated QCM humidity sensor was fabricated.The material characteristics of ND,Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene,and ND/Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene composite were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy.The experimental results demonstrated that the hydrophilic ND nanoparticles coated on Ti_(3)C_(2) MXene nanosheet prevented the self-stacking of Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene and enhanced the sensitivity of Ti_(3)C_(2) MXene-based QCM humidity sensor.Moreover,the high mechanical modulus of Ti_(3)C_(2) MXene material helped ND/Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene composite-coated QCM humidity sensor to achieve a high quality factor(>20,000).ND/Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene compositecoated QCM humidity sensor exhibited a sensitivity of 82.45 Hz/%RH,a humidity hysteresis of 1.1%RH,fast response/recovery times,acceptable repeatability,and good stability from 11.3%RH to 97.3%RH.The response mechanism of ND/Ti_(3)C_(2) MXene composite-coated QCM humidity sensor was analyzed in combination with a bi-exponential kinetic adsorption model.Finally,the potential application of ND/Ti_(3)C_(2)MXene composite-coated QCM humidity sensor was demonstrated through its frequency response to wooden blocks with different moisture contents.

Strengthened graphene oxide/diazoresin multilayer composites from layer-by-layer assembly and cross-linking

The layer-by-layer assembly of graphene oxide and diazoresin is carried out via the electrostatic and hydrogen bond interactions on planar substrates and colloidal templates.The successful planar and spherical growth of multilayer could be investigated by UV-vis spectrophotometry and scanning electron microscopy,respectively.Subsequent UV irradiation or heating would convert the ionic bonds and hydrogen bonds to covalent bands,which significantly improves the stability of the multilayer composite against solvent etching.For the cross-linked core-shell composites,the template cores could be removed by dissolution and hollow microspheres are obtained.