Horst Rens J, Katzourakis Antonis, Mei Bastian T, de Beer Sissi
Sustainable Polymer Chemistry Group, Department of Molecules & Materials, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
Photocatalytic Synthesis Group, Department of Molecules & Materials, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
HardwareX. 2022 Nov 8;12:e00374. doi: 10.1016/j.ohx.2022.e00374. eCollection 2022 Oct.
The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurement technique is utilized in a broad variety of scientific fields and applications, where surface and interfacial processes are relevant. However, the costs of purchasing QCMs is typically high, which has limited its employment in education as well as by scientists in developing countries. In this article, we present an open-source QCM, built on the OpenQCM project, and using an impedance-based measurement technique (QCM-I), which can be built for <200 euro. Our QCM allows for simultaneous monitoring of the frequency change and dissipation, such that both soft and rigid materials can be characterized. In addition, our QCM measurements can be combined with simultaneous electrochemical measurement techniques (EQCM-I). We demonstrate the validity of our system by characterizing the electrodeposition of a rigid metallic film (Cu) and by the electropolymerization of aniline. Finally, we discuss potential improvements to our system.
石英晶体微天平（QCM）测量技术被广泛应用于各种与表面和界面过程相关的科学领域和应用中。然而，购买QCM的成本通常很高，这限制了其在教育领域以及发展中国家科学家手中的使用。在本文中，我们展示了一种基于OpenQCM项目构建的开源QCM，它使用基于阻抗的测量技术（QCM-I），制造成本低于200欧元。我们的QCM能够同时监测频率变化和耗散，从而对软材料和硬材料进行表征。此外，我们的QCM测量可以与同步电化学测量技术（EQCM-I）相结合。我们通过表征刚性金属膜（铜）的电沉积和苯胺的电聚合来证明我们系统的有效性。最后，我们讨论了对我们系统的潜在改进。
