Hearing What You Cannot See and Visualizing What You Hear: Interpreting Quartz Crystal Microbalance Data from Solvated Interfaces

Abstract

Over the last 2 decades, the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM or QCM-D) has emerged as a versatile tool for investigating soft and solvated interfaces between solid surfaces and bulk liquids because it can provide a wealth of information about key structural and functional parameters of these interfaces. In this Feature, we offer QCM users a set of guidelines for interpretation and quantitative analysis of QCM data based on a synthesis of well-established concepts rooted in rheological research of the last century and of new results obtained in the last several years.

Structural and Mechanical Properties of Thin Films of Bovine Submaxillary Mucin versus Porcine Gastric Mucin on a Hydrophobic Surface in Aqueous Solutions

“…Adsorption of a certain amount of mass onto the sensor surface leads to a decrease in the frequency of the resonance overtones, 25 although it is not straightforward to establish the correct relationship between both quantities when dealing with viscoelastic materials. 26 Additionally, the coupled mass sensed in QCM-D experiments includes that of the adsorbed film and that of the coupled solvent. 27,28 Thus, it is often referred as "wet mass".…”

Adsorbed liposome deformation studied with quartz crystal microbalance

“…Here, we present and validate a new method for measuring the deformation of nm-sized liposomes adsorbing on surfaces. Although it is based on deducing the height of surface-adsorbed liposomes (labeled as h in Figure 1) from QCM [17][18][19][20][21] measurements, it does not rely on a model. Previously, we showed that this method reliably and quantitatively yields the size of the adsorbed particles for stiff particles that do not deform upon adsorption; in that case, h ∼ 2R (Figure 1(a)), where R is the radius of particles in solution (e.g., measured with dynamic light scattering).…”

In-situ evaluation of dye adsorption on TiO2using QCM

“…The principle of QCM-D is based on the shift of an electroacoustic resonance frequency (Δf ) by loading of mass. The change in the resonant frequency of the oscillating crystal is proportional to the adsorbed mass on the surface, according to the Sauerbrey equation (1) [16], as long as energy dissipation ΔD/Δf < 4 × 10 −7 Hz −1 for a 5 MHz crystal [17],…”