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Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Sample Preparation in Quartz Crystal Microbalance Measurements of Protein Adsorption and Polymer Mechanics
Published on: January 22, 2020
Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using quartz crystal microbalances
S Stanley1, C J Percival, M Auer
1Department of Chemistry and Physics, The Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK.
Abstract:
A chemically coated piezoelectric sensor has been developed for the determination of PAHs in the liquid phase. An organic monolayer attached to the surface of a gold electrode of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) via a covalent thiol-gold link complete with an ionically bound recognition element has been produced. This study has employed the PAH derivative 9-anthracene carboxylic acid which, once bound to the alkane thiol, functions as the recognition element. Binding of anthracene via pi-pi interaction has been observed as a frequency shift in the QCM with a detectability of the target analyte of 2 ppb and a response range of 0-50 ppb. The relative response of the sensor altered for different PAHs despite pi-pi interaction being the sole communication between recognition element and analyte. It is envisaged that such a sensor could be employed in the identification of key marker compounds and, as such, give an indication of total PAH flux in the environment.
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