DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF AN ELECTRODE SEPARATED QUARTZ CRYSTAL MICROBALANCE ARRAY AS A DISPOSABLE WEIGHING DISH

This paper describes a new monolithic quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) array as a disposable weighing dish; this microbalance contains electrodes on the sensing side and no electrodes on the opposing side. In this sensor, excitation electrodes are positioned on a glass plate that is separate from the dish. The optimized configuration of the monolithic QCM array relative to the crystallographic x-axis of the quartz plate is revealed for the first time. The developed QCM enables the user to measure mass changes by only placing the dish on the excitation electrodes; hence, it can be applied to disposable QCM-based weighing dishes for evaluating surface treatments, coating processes, and liquid properties.