IntroductionThe principle of detection by piezoelectric crystal is based on the fact that the vibration frequency of an oscillating sensor decreases in the presence of an amount of material added to its surface. As shown by Sauerbrey [1], the vibrating frequency of a quartz crystal, to a first approximation, changes proportionally to the mass deposited onto or removed from one or both their faces. Because the TSMR (thickness shear mode resonator) fundamental frequency is rather low (10 MHz), it is assumed that viscosity effects contribute to the frequency changes due to gas sorption to a negligible extent only [2]. Gaseous pollutants can be selectively sorbed by the detector if an ideal coating is deposited on the metallic electrodes. The observed frequency change is a measure of the amount of sorbed gas. The type of interaction taking place between the analyte molecules and the active coating determines the sorption and desorption characteristics. Lowenergy, perfectly reversible interactions such as physisorption generally lack a high degree of selectivity. On the other hand, the formation of chemical bonds or the chemisorption process tend to be less reversible. One approach to overcoming these problems includes the application of sensor arrays to compensate the low selectivity [3,4]. Another solution to this problem includes searching for "intermediate interactions", i.e., interactions that are weaker than chemisorption (≈300 kJ mol -1 ) but stronger than physisorption (0-40 kJ mol -1 ), such as coordination [5]. A central metal atom surrounded by neutral or charged (often organic) ligands is responsible for these interactions, where one or more donor atoms on these ligands interact with the metal ion. So, selectivity can be influenced by the choice of both the metal ion and the ligand, from both an eletronic and steric point of view [5]. When gaseous molecules interact with metal complexes in this way, they themselves become coligands either by occupying free coordination sites or by displacing other ligands. Earlier work in the field of coordination chemistry on mass-sensitive Abstract: Carbon monoxide was detected and determined by a piezoelectric quartz crystal sensor coated with nickel(II)-phthalocyanine 50 % (v/v) solution in glycerine. Studies on the effect of temperature, flow rate, and some possible interferents were carried out. Calibration curves, sensor stability (lifetime) and the precision of measurements were also verified. The resulting selectivity is probably due to the coordinative binding between the electronically unsatured metal complexes and the analyte. The analytical curve is linear in the concentration range 0.10 to 1.0 % (v/v).