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. 2022 Mar 17;22(6):2337.
doi: 10.3390/s22062337.

Advanced Impedance Spectroscopy for QCM Sensor in Liquid Medium

Ioan Burda  1
Affiliations

Advanced Impedance Spectroscopy for QCM Sensor in Liquid Medium

Ioan Burda. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Technological evolution has allowed impedance analysis to become a versatile and efficient method for the precise measurement of the equivalent electrical parameters of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). By measuring the dissipation factor, or another equivalent electrical parameter, the QCM sensor provides access to the sample mass per unit area and its physical parameters, thus ensuring a detailed analysis. This paper aims to demonstrate the benefits of advanced impedance spectroscopy concerning the Butterworth-van Dyke (BVD) model for QCM sensors immersed with an electrode in a liquid medium. The support instrument in this study is a fast and accurate software-defined virtual impedance analyzer (VIA) with real-time computing capabilities of the QCM sensor's electric model. Advanced software methods of self-calibration, real-time compensation, innovative post-compensation, and simultaneous calculation by several methods are the experimental resources of the results presented in this paper. The experimental results validate the theoretical concepts and demonstrate both the capabilities of VIA as an instrument and the significant improvements brought by the advanced software methods of impedance spectroscopy analysis related to the BVD model.

Keywords: QCM sensors; impedance analysis; in-liquid measurements; piezoelectric materials; virtual instrumentation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Methods of the impedance analysis. (a) Half-bridge configuration for wide dynamic range. (b) With one grounded electrode based on a balun transformer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
QCM versions based on virtual impedance analyzer. (a) Half-bridge configuration for wide dynamic range. (b) With one grounded electrode based on a balun transformer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Butterworth–van Dyke (BVD) model of the QCM sensor. (a) In the air. (b) In the liquid medium.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Standard method for impedance compensation. (a) Open-circuit compensation. (b) Short-circuit compensation.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Simulation of the residual shunt and stray capacitance effect as Nyquist plot considering the liquid medium.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Bode plot of the raw data for a QCM sensor in the air with balun transformer topology. (a) Without compensation. (b) With compensation.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Nyquist plot for QCM sensor. (a) In water and air. (b) In water, in two concentrations of the glycerin-water solution, and in glycerin.
Figure 8
Figure 8
QCM sensor in water, in two concentrations of the glycerin-water solution, and in glycerin after real-time shunt and stray capacitance compensation. (a) Bode plot. (b) Nyquist plot.
Figure 9
Figure 9
QCM sensor in water, in two concentrations of the glycerin-water solution, and in glycerin after advanced shunt and stray capacitance compensation. (a) Bode plot. (b) Nyquist plot.
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