Quality control of automotive engine oils with mass-sensitive chemical sensors - QCMs and molecularly imprinted polymers

Molecularly imprinted polyurethanes were used as sensor materials for monitoring the degradation of automotive engine oils. Imprinting with characteristic oils permits the analysis of these complex mixtures without accurately knowing their composition. Mass-sensitive quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) coated with such layers exhibit mass effects in addition to frequency shifts caused by viscosity, which can be compensated by an uncoated quartz or a non-imprint layer. Incorporation of degradation products into the imprinted coatings is a bulk phenomenon, which is proven by variation of the sensor layer height. Therefore, the resulting sensor effects are determined by the degradation products in the oil.