Quartz crystal microbalance sensor design: I. Experimental study of sensor response and performance

This paper investigates a novel quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) biosensor with a small and rectangular flow cell along with a correspondingly shaped crystal electrode. The sensor was evaluated with impedance analysis and compared to standard circular sensor crystals and sensor crystals with small circular electrodes. Comparative QCM measurements on an antibody–antigen interaction system were carried out on the rectangular and standard circular sensor systems. Impedance analysis and subsequent data extraction of the three different sensor crystals showed that the smaller sensors had significantly higher Q-values in air, but that liquid load on the electrodes lowered the Q-values radically for all crystals. Under liquid load, Q-values for the standard circular and the rectangular sensors were similar whereas the Q-value for the small circular sensor was 50% higher. QCM experiments showed that the QCM system with rectangular crystal electrodes was fully functional in a liquid environment. The rectangular system showed higher and more rapid responses for series of antibody injections, albeit at a higher noise level than the standard system. The study elucidates a significant potential for improvement of sensor performance by optimising the sensor electrode size and shape together with the flow cell geometry.