Water sorption isotherms on aminopropyltriethoxysilane coated surface acoustic wave sensors

Water sorption isotherms were obtained on surface acoustic wave sensors (SAWS) coated with aminopropyltriethyoxysilane (APTES), and on uncoated SAWS of which the substrate material was polished ST-quartz. The isotherms were obtained at 25 degrees , 30 degrees and 40 degrees over the range 1-80% relative humidity (RH). The isotherms exhibit BDDT type III characteristics typical of weak gas-solid interaction. The isotherms showed good fit to quadratic equations relating frequency change on exposure to humid air with relative humidity. There was no significant hysteresis in the isotherms when the SAWS was taken through a cycle of relative humidity at any of the three temperatures employed. These results are similar to those obtained in earlier work on FPOL and polyvinylpyrollidone coated SAWS. They demonstrate that a correction algorithm based on a quadratic equation should be possible to overcome water vapour response of coated SAWS.