Quartz Crystal Nanobalance in Conjunction with Principal Component Analysis for Identification of Volatile Organic Compounds

Quartz crystal nanobalance (QCN) sensors are considered as powerful mass-sensitive sensors to determine materials in the sub-nanogram level. In this study, a single piezoelectric quartz crystal nanobalance modified with polystyrene was employed to detect benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX compounds). The frequency shift of the QCN sensor was found to be linear against the BTEX compound concentrations in the range about 1-45 mg l-1. The correlation coefficients for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene were 0.991, 0.9977, 0.9946 and 0.9971, respectively. The principal component analysis was also utilized to process the frequency response data of the single piezoelectric crystal at different times, considering to the different adsorption-desorption dynamics of BTEX compounds. Using principal component analysis, it was found that over 90% of the data variance could still be explained by use of two principal components (PC1 and PC2). Subsequently, the successful identification of benzene and toluene was possible through the principal component analysis of the transient responses of the polystyrene modified QCN sensor. The results showed that the polystyrene-modified QCN had favorable identification and quantification performances for the BTEX compounds.

[1]  H. Finklea,et al.  Quartz crystal microbalance sensor for organic vapor detection based on molecularly imprinted polymers. , 2003, Analytical chemistry.

[2]  Stanley Bruckenstein,et al.  Experimental aspects of use of the quartz crystal microbalance in solution , 1985 .

[3]  J. Shih,et al.  Cryptand/metal ion coated piezoelectric quartz crystal sensors with artificial back propagation neural network analysis for nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide , 2005 .

[4]  Abdolreza Mirmohseni,et al.  Construction of a sensor for determination of ammonia and aliphatic amines using polyvinylpyrrolidone coated quartz crystal microbalance , 2003 .

[5]  J. Abonyi,et al.  Application of fuzzy clustering and piezoelectric chemical sensor array for investigation on organic compounds , 1999 .

[6]  J. Cooper,et al.  Odour mapping using microresistor and piezo-electric sensor pairs , 2000 .

[7]  Andres Öpik,et al.  Environmental QCM sensors coated with polypyrrole , 1999 .

[8]  F. Dickert,et al.  Detection of volatile compounds with mass-sensitive sensor arrays in the presence of variable ambient humidity. , 1999, Analytical chemistry.

[9]  A. Mirmohseni,et al.  Detection and determination of CrVI in solution using polyaniline modified quartz crystal electrode , 2002 .

[10]  A. Mirmohseni,et al.  Determination of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons in air using a polymer coated quartz crystal microbalance sensor , 2004 .

[11]  Jeng-Shong Shih,et al.  Multi-channel piezoelectric quartz crystal sensor for organic vapours , 2000 .

[12]  Peter Hauptmann,et al.  SENSOR SYSTEM FOR THE DETECTION OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN WATER BY THICKNESS SHEAR MODE RESONATORS , 1998 .

[13]  K. Temsamani,et al.  Electrochemical control of solid phase micro-extraction: conducting polymer coated film material applicable for preconcentration/analysis of neutral species. , 2002, Talanta.

[14]  Karsten Henkel,et al.  Selective polypyrrole electrodes for quartz microbalances: NO2 and gas flux sensitivities , 2001 .

[15]  A. Mirmohseni,et al.  Application of the quartz crystal microbalance for determination of phenol in solution , 2004 .

[16]  Guo-Li Shen,et al.  Piezoelectric quartz crystal sensor array with optimized oscillator circuit for analysis of organic vapors mixtures , 2003 .

[17]  G. Barkó,et al.  Application of principal component analysis for the characterisation of a piezoelectric sensors array , 1998 .