Issue 35, 2021

Quantitative description of the response of finite size adsorbates on a quartz crystal microbalance in liquids using analytical hydrodynamics

Abstract

Despite being a fundamental tool in soft matter research and biosensing, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) analyses of discrete macromolecules in liquids so far lack a firm theoretical basis. Quite often, acoustic signals of discrete particles are qualitatively interpreted using ad hoc frameworks based on effective electrical circuits, effective springs and trapped-solvent models with many fitting parameters. Nevertheless, due to its extreme sensitivity, the QCM technique pledges to become an accurate predictive tool. Using unsteady low Reynolds hydrodynamics we derive analytical expressions for the acoustic impedance of adsorbed discrete spheres. The present approach is successfully validated against 3D simulations and a plethora of experimental results covering more than a decade of research on proteins, viruses, liposomes, and massive nanoparticles, with sizes ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers. The agreement without fitting parameters indicates that the acoustic response is dominated by the hydrodynamic propagation of the particle surface stress over the resonator. Understanding this leading contribution is a prerequisite for deciphering the secondary contributions arising from the relevant specific molecular and physico-chemical forces.

Graphical abstract: Quantitative description of the response of finite size adsorbates on a quartz crystal microbalance in liquids using analytical hydrodynamics

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Apr 2021
Accepted
29 Jul 2021
First published
03 Aug 2021

Soft Matter, 2021,17, 8160-8174

Quantitative description of the response of finite size adsorbates on a quartz crystal microbalance in liquids using analytical hydrodynamics

M. M. Schofield and R. Delgado-Buscalioni, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 8160 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM00492A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements