In-liquid sensing of chemical compounds by QCM sensors coupled with high-accuracy ACC oscillator

A novel oscillator circuit with automatic capacitance compensation (ACC) capability has been coupled with quartz-crystal-microbalance (QCM) sensors coated with quinoxaline- and pyrazine-bridged cavitands to detect aromatic and chlorinated compounds in water. With double-side immersed 10-MHz crystals coated with the quinoxaline cavitand, the detection of toluene in deionized water was possible down to concentrations of a few parts per million. The ACC oscillator advantageously provides the simultaneous measurement of the sensor resonant frequency, damping, and value of the compensated parallel capacitance. This enabled observing that the analyte sorption in the cavitand coating not only brings about a mass uptake but also an increase of losses and, apparently, a rise in the coating average permittivity.