Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM)

As a highly sensitive micro-mass detection tool, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) has exhibited advantages in a variety of monitoring and bio-analysis. Added by advanced technical platform and abundant experience, Creative Biolabs now provides high-quality QCM based characterization services to help our clients make achievements in drug discovery.

What is Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM)?

QCM, also known as quartz microbalance (QMB), is a piezoelectric biosensor with extremely high sensitivity. Dated back to the early 1960s, QCM is a mass measuring instrument with measurement accuracy up to the nanogram level, which is 1000 times higher than the electronic microbalance with a sensitivity of the microgram level. Using the piezoelectric effect of quartz crystal, QCM measures mass variations by detecting the frequency change of quartz crystal resonator. Theoretically, the measurable mass variation by QCM is equivalent to a fraction of the single molecular layer or atomic layer.

How Does the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) Work?

The basic principle of QCM is the piezoelectric effect of quartz crystal. Upon an alternating voltage applied to the two poles of the quartz crystal, the quartz crystal of QCM produces mechanical vibration or oscillation. This resonance is greatly sensitive to the thickness of the crystal/electrode system and the frequency of the acoustic frequency. Once the mass on the quartz crystal increases or decreases, the resonance will be disturbed and the resonance frequency of the quartz crystal will change. Thus, the mass variation on the quartz crystal electrode surface is transformed into the frequency variation of the output electric signal of the quartz crystal oscillation and is further transformed into the high-precision data by the computer.

Fig.1 Basic working principles of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. (Yuwono, 2004)

Applications of Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM)

Owing to the high sensitivity and low cost, QCM, serving as a micro mass sensor, can detect the variation of the mass of trace substances in the range of nanograms. Therefore, QCM has been extensively used in the fields of chemistry, physics, surface science, most importantly in biology and medicine, such as:

• Composition analysis of gas, liquid, nanomaterials, etc.;
• Monitoring of film deposition;
• Monitoring and analysis of particulate, contamination, and surface corrosion;
• Determination of the affinity of proteins, interactions between biomolecules, adsorption of virus particles and proteins, research of biomembranes and biomaterials, etc.

Fig.2 Applications of electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance. (Wei, 2018)

The QCM technique has developed as an extensively bioanalytical approach for monitoring adsorption, intermolecular interactions, intelligent biomaterials analysis, and so forth. As a senior biotechnology company, Creative Biolabs offers convenient QCM services to help clients advance in drug discovery and disease therapies. For more details, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

References

1. Yuwono, A.S., Lammers, P.S. Odor pollution in the environment and the detection instrumentation. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal of Scientific Research and Development. 2004, VI.
2. Wei, X.Y.; Wang, G.; et al. Application of Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance. Progress in Chemistry. 2018, 30(11): 1701-1721.

For Research Use Only.