Development of a QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) Biosensor to the Detection of Aflatoxin B1

In this study, we have used a direct immunoassay where the simple binding between antigen and an antibody is detected. Immunoassays were performed in a drop system, monitoring the frequency decrease of the quartz-crystal microbalance device because of mass increasing during immunoreaction. The QCM sensor was coated on both sides by gold electrodes, only one side of the crystal (liquid side) was in contact with the solution;the other side (contact side) was always dry. We tested a piezoelectric immunosensor for aflatoxin B1 (AFLA-B1) mycotoxin detection through the immo- bilization of DSP-anti-AFLAB1 antibody (AFLA-B1-Ab anti AFLAB1) on gold-coated quartz crystals (AT-cut/5 MHz). The DSP (3,3’-Dithiodipropionic-acid-di-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester) was used for the covalent attachment of the proteins. The piezoelectric crystal electrodes were pretreated by DSP for 15 min, rinsed with water and dried in a gentle flow of nitrogen gas. Then the DSP-coated crystals were installed in a sample holder and exposed to the anti-AFLAB1 antibody and to the AFLA-BI. Frequency and resistance shifts (Δf and ΔR) were measured simultaneously. Δf versus AFLA-BI concentrations in the range of 0.5 - 10 ppb exhibited a perfect linear correlation with a coefficient of above 0.998.

Application of Nanoparticles in Quartz Crystal Microbalance Biosensors

Nanoparticles are playing an increasingly important role in the development of biosensors. The sensitivity and performance of biosensors are being improved by using Nanoparticles for their construction. The use of these Nanoparticles has allowed the introduction of many new signal transduction technologies in biosensors. In this report, a comprehensive review of application of nanoparticles in Quartz Crystal Microbalance biosensors is presented. The main advantages of QCM in sensing fields include high sensitivity, high stability, fast response and low cost. In addition, it provides label-free detection capability for bio-sensing applications. Firstly, basic QCM’s design and characterization are described. Next, QCM biosensors based on modification of quartz substrate structure and their applications are digested. Nanoparticles and their utilizationin analysis are then illustrated. These include Nanoparticles in bio applications that cover Nanoparticles in Quartz Crystal Microbalance biosensors.

Rapid identification of spinal ventral and dorsal roots using a quartz crystal microbalance

The fast and accurate identification of nerve tracts is critical for successful nerve anastomosis. Taking advantage of differences in acetylcholinesterase content between the spinal ventral and dorsal roots, we developed a novel quartz crystal microbalance method to distinguish between these nerves based on acetylcholinesterase antibody reactivity. The acetylcholinesterase antibody was immobilized on the electrode surface of a quartz crystal microbalance and reacted with the acetylcholinesterase in sample solution. The formed antigen and antibody complexes added to the mass of the electrode inducing a change in frequency of the electrode. The spinal ventral and dorsal roots were distinguished by the change in frequency. The ventral and dorsal roots were cut into 1 to 2-mm long segments and then soaked in 250 pL PBS. Acetylcholinesterase antibody was immobilized on the quartz crystal microbalance gold electrode surface. The results revealed that in 10 minutes, both spinal ventral and dorsal roots induced a frequency change; however, the frequency change induced by the ventral roots was notably higher than that induced by the dorsal roots. No change was induced by bovine serum albumin or PBS. These results clearly demonstrate that a quartz crystal microbalance sensor can be used as a rapid, highly sensitive and accurate detection tool for the quick identification of spinal nerve roots intraoperatively.

The influence of temperature on flow-induced forces on quartz-crystal-microbalance sensors in a Chinese liquor identification electronic-nose: three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation and analysis

An electronic-nose is developed based on eight quartz-crystal-microbalance (QCM) gas sensors in a sensor box, and is used to detect Chinese liquors at room temperature. Each sensor is a highly-accurate and highly-sensitive oscillator that has experienced airflow disturbances under the condition of varying room temperatures due to unstable flow-induced forces on the sensors surfaces. The three-dimensional (3D) nature of the airflow inside the sensor box and the interactions of the airflow on the sensors surfaces at different temperatures are studied by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools. Higher simulation accuracy is achieved by optimizing meshes, meshing the computational domain using a fine unstructural tetrahedron mesh. An optimum temperature, 30 ℃, is obtained by analyzing the distributions of velocity streamlines and the static pressure, as well as the flow-induced forces over time, all of which may be used to improve the identification accuracy of the electronic-nose for achieving stable and repeatable signals by removing the influence of temperature.

Characterization of Self-assembled Monolayers on Gold Electrode Using Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance

The electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) is used to investigate the characteristics of the thiolated self-assembled monolayer(SAM) on gold surface.A 5MHz QCM element serves as both the mass-sensitive sensor and the working electrode of the electrochemical system.The 6-mecapto-1-hexanol and and the 16-mer oligonucleotide with a mercaptohexyl group at the 5'-phosphate end are utilized to form the SAM on the gold electrode.The frequency response of the QCM during cyclic voltammetry (CV) scanning and cbronoamperometry are recorded together with the electrochemical current.The experimental results indicates that the frequency response is more sensitive to the surface coverage.Therefore,the response of the EQCM reveals more details of the SAM on gold electrode.It is especially useful for analysing the immobilization quality,such as probe orientation and coverage,of the SAM.

Quartz Crystal Microbalances for Evaluating Gas Motion Differences between Dichlorosilane and Trichlorosilane in Ambient Hydrogen in a Slim Vertical Cold Wall Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactor

A dichlorosilane gas and a trichlorosilane gas in ambient hydrogen were evaluated to show their different gas flow motions in a slim vertical cold wall chemical vapor deposition reactor for the Minimal Fab system. This evaluation was performed for improving and controlling the film qualities and the productivities, using two quartz crystal microbalances (QCM) installed at the inlet and exhaust of the chamber by taking into account that the QCM frequency corresponds to the real time changes in the gas properties. Typically, the time period approaching from the inlet to the exhaust was shorter for the trichlorosilane gas than that for the dichlorosilane gas. The trichlorosilane gas was shown to move like plug flow, while the dichlorosilane gas seemed to be well mixed in the entire chamber.

Quartz Crystal Microbalance Sensor Deposited with LB Films of Functional Polymers for the Detection of Phenols in Vapour Phase

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Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance(EQCM) Characterization of Electrodeposition and Catalytic Activity of Pd-based Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Oxidation

Pd was electrochemically deposited on gold-coated quartz crystals at nanogram-level. The coulombic efficiency and initial nucleation and growth mechanism of potentiostatic Pd deposition were investigated via in situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance（EQCM）. The coulombic efficieneies are 84%, 93% and 95% for Pd deposition at 0.3, 0.2 and 0.1 V（vs. SCE）, respectively. The results of chronoamperometric measurements show that the Pd deposition proceeded by an instantaneous nucleation（at 0.3 V） or progressive nucleation（at 0.2 and 0.1 V） in a three-dimensional（3D） growth mode. The catalytic activity of Pd-based electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation was characterized in an alkaline solution. It was found that the highest mass activity for ethanol oxidation on Pd-based electrocatalyst is 1.8× 10^4 A/（g Pd） deposited at 0.3 V for 5 s.

Charge Transport Processes of Immobilized Heteropolyanions at Self-assembled Monolayer Modified Gold Electrode by Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance Measurement

The in situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance（EQCM） technique was used to investigate the ion transport of immobilized heteropolyanions at a self-assembled monolayer（SAM） modified gold electrode during electrochemical redox process.A mixed transfer method was presented to analyse the abnormal change of resonant frequency based on the simultaneous insertion/extraction of different ions.The results indicate that the migration of HSO4-anions was indispensable in the redox process of the heteropolyanions in a 1 mol/L H2SO4 solution and played a key role in the abnormal change of the resonant frequency.Such a change was attributed to different packing densities derived by means of differently immobilized methods.

Hybrid temperature effect on a quartz crystal microbalance resonator in aqueous solutions

The quartz crystal microbalance（QCM） is an important tool that can sense nanogram changes in mass. The hybrid temperature effect on a QCM resonator in aqueous solutions leads to unconvincing detection results. Control of the temperature effect is one of the keys when using the QCM for high precision measurements. Based on the Sauerbrey＇s and Kanazawa＇s theories, we proposed a method for enhancing the accuracy of the QCM measurement, which takes into account not only the thermal variations of viscosity and density but also the thermal behavior of the QCM resonator. We presented an improved Sauerbrey equation that can be used to effectively compensate the drift of the QCM resonator. These results will play a significant role when applying the QCM at the room temperature.

Determination of Paclitaxel Solubility in Carbon Dioxide Using Quartz Crystal Microbalance

A quartz crystal microbalance （QCM） is used to determine the phase equilibrium of paclitaxel-carbon dioxide system in the pressure range of 0-11 MPa and at temperatures of 35 °C,40 °C and 45 °C.The experimental results indicated that gaseous CO2 could be absorbed poorly into paclitaxel.The swelling of paclitaxel film in CO2 was observed before paclitaxel dissolved into supercritical carbon dioxide （ScCO2） with the increase of pressure.It was found that ScCO2 was not a good solvent for paclitaxel.The mole fraction of paclitaxel in ScCO2 was in the range of （4.5×10-9）-（7.8×10-9） under all our experimental conditions.Therefore,a much higher pressure than the CO2 supercritical point and/or a cosolvent must be used in any processes wherever paclitaxel dissolution in ScCO2 is required.

In situ Investigation on Layer-by-Layer Deposition of Polyelectrolytes by Quartz Crystal Microbalance

The effect of salt concentration on layer-by-layer deposition of poly（sodium 4-styrene sulfonate） （PSSS）/poly（vinylbenzyl trimethylammonium chloride） （PVTC） was investigated by use of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation （QCM-D）. The changes in frequency and dissipation demonstrate that the addition of NaC1 leads the thickness of PSSS/PVTC multilayer to increase. The deposition of PSSS/PVTC is dominated by surface charge overcompensation level at lower salt concentrations. However, it is mainly determined by the interpenetration of polyelectrolytes at a higher salt concentration, as reflected in the oscillation of dissipation change.

Real-Time Characterization of Fibrinogen Interaction with Modified Titanium Dioxide Film by Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation

The adsorption of fibrinogen can be used as a quick indicator of surface haemocompatibility because of its prominent role in coagulation and platelet adhesion. In this work the molecular interaction between fibrinogen and a modified titanium oxide surface/platelet has been studied by quartz crystal microbalanee with dissipation （QCM-D） in situ. In order to further characterize the conformation of adsorbed fibrinogen, αC and γ-chain antibody were used to check the orientation and denaturation of fibrinogen on solid surface. QCM-D investiga- tions revealed the fibrinogen have the trend to adsorb on hydropllilic surface in a side-on orientation by positively charged αC domains, which would reduce the exposure of platelet bonding site on γ chain and enable less platelet adhesion and be activated. These obser- vations suggest that certain conformations of adsorbed fibrinogen are less platelet adhesive than others, which opens a possibility for creating a non-platelet adhesive substrates.

Fabrication and evaluation of a portable and reproducible quartz crystal microbalance immunochip for label-free detection ofβ-lactoglobulin allergen in milk products

In this study,a label-free,portable and reproducible immunochip based on quartz crystal microbalance(QCM)was developed for the qualitative detection ofβ-lactoglobulin(β-LG),an allergen,in milk products.Experimental parameters in the fabrication and regeneration procedure such as pH of the coupling microenvironment,amount of anti-β-LG antibody and regeneration reagent were optimized in detail.Under optimal conditions,the proposed QCM immunochip exhibited good recognition of β-LG,with a calibration curve of ΔF=12.877 C_(β-LG)^(0.4809)(R^(2)=0.9982)and limit of detection of 0.04μg/mL.Additionally,this portable QCM immunochip had good stability,high specificity,and no obvious cross-reaction to three other milk proteins(α-casein,α-lactalbumin,and lactoferrin).It could compete a qualitative measurement within5 min,and could be reused at least ten times.In the β-LG analysis of actual milk samples,the developed QCM immunochip yielded reliable and accurate results,which correlated strongly with those from the standard HPLC method(R^(2)=0.9969).Thus,the portable,stable,and reproducible QCM immunochip developed in this study allowed the rapid,cost-effectively and sensitively measure theβ-LG in milk products.

Gravimetric Studies of Ni Electrodeposition with Additives from Deep Eutectic Solvents Using Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance EQCM

The gravimetric analysis of electrodeposited nickel is demonstrated using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) where the nickel coatings come from a solution of the metal chloride salt separately in either a1choline chloride: 2 ethylene glycol (ethaline) or 1 choline chloride: 2 urea (reline) based ionic liquid. The possibility of adapting the Quartz Crystal Microbalance EQCM (which measures the mass attached to the electrode) to probe kinetics of electrochemically-driven solid state phase transformations has been explored in a Ni electrodeposition in absence and presence of complexing agents ethylene diamine en and acetylacetonate acac from both electrolytes ethaline and reline. The study shows that the current efficiency and the rate of deposition of nickel coatings obtained from ethaline and reline baths in absence of brighteners en and acac are different, and the addition of en and acac to both ionic liquid solutions results in a significant decrease current. And the associated growth rate will also be decreased, suggesting that the en acac stops the formation and growth of Ni nuclei. This suggests that the mechanism of growth is changed.

Study of physisorption of volatile anesthetics on phos-pholipid monolayers using a highly sensitive quartz crystal microbalance (HS-QCM)

We have investigated the interactions between phospholipid monolayers and volatile anest-hatics. Two monolayers (dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP) and dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC) and two anesthetics (halothane and enflurane) were used to observe these interac-tions using a highly sensitive quartz crystal microbalance (HS-QCM). The concentration of each anesthetic in aqueous solution was kept at 4 mM. The frequency of QCM showed no change when halothane was added to the DHP monolayer, however, it responded and de-creased when interaction occurred with DPPC monolayer. In case of enflurane addition the frequency decreased in both the monolayers of DHP and DPPC. The frequency change followed the following order of monolayer-anesthetic interactions: DHP-halothane <DPPC-halothane <DHP-enflurane <DPPC-enflurane. These re-sults showed that the response of anesthetics to the monolayers i.e. the physisorption not only depends on the anesthetic structure, the type of anesthetic hydrate formed, but also the hydrophilic polar group structure of the monolayer or the monolayer/water interface had an important role in physisorption.

Quantitative measurement of p53-p53 antibody interactions by quartz crystal microbalance: A modelsystem for immunochemical calibration

We are developing methods to quantify antibody interactions that include a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) system to measure, on a molecular basis, the interaction of p53 and anti-p53 antibodies. Previously, as a model system, we developed a measurement device consisting of p53 protein (human wild type), characterized by mass spectroscopy and immobilized at various concentrations on a glass slide. The device is designed as a control to be used with immunohistochemical (IHC) assays that incorporate commercially available anti-p53 antibodies and probes. In the current study, p53 protein is covalently immobilized on a silicon dioxide-coated quartz crystal and the resonance frequency shift is followed in-situ. The functionalized sensor is then incubated with the anti-p53 antibody, which provides a direct gravimetric measure of the antibody-antigen binding. This previously described method allows the comparison of the surface immobilized protein concentrations with estimates obtained by fluorescence measurement. The p53 functionalized QCM system offers an independent measure of surface immobilized protein concentration and is essential in development of our IHC calibration prototypes. These results provide a benchmark for comparing antibody systems that may be used in developing other molecular diagnostic assays such as immunocytochemical analysis and the detection of biomarker proteins in blood and urine.

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.

Vibration analysis of a new polymer quartz piezoelectric crystal sensor for detecting characteristic materials of volatility liquid

We present a new polymer quartz piezoelectric crystal sensor that takes a quartz piezoelectric crystal as the basal material and a nanometer nonmetallic polymer thin film as the surface coating based on the principle of quartz crystal microbalance(QCM). The new sensor can be used to detect the characteristic materials of a volatile liquid. A mechanical model of the new sensor was built, whose structure was a thin circle plate composing of polytef/quartz piezoelectric/polytef. The mechanical model had a diameter of 8 mm and a thickness of 170 μm. The vibration state of the model was simulated by software ANSYS after the physical parameters and the boundary condition of the new sensor were set. According to the results of experiments, we set up a frequency range from 9.995850 MHz to 9.997225 MHz, 17 kinds of frequencies and modes of vibration were obtained within this range. We found a special frequency fspof 9.996358 MHz. When the resonant frequency of the new sensor's mechanical model reached the special frequency, a special phenomenon occurred. In this case, the amplitude of the center point O on the mechanical model reached the maximum value. At the same time, the minimum absolute difference between the simulated frequency based on the ANSYS software and the experimental measured stable frequency was reached. The research showed that the design of the new polymer quartz piezoelectric crystal sensor perfectly conforms to the principle of QCM. A special frequency value fspwas found and subsequently became one of the most important parameters in the new sensor design.