Fort Ada, Landi Elia, Moretti Riccardo, Mugnaini Marco, Liguori Consolatina, Paciello Vincenzo, Dello Iacono Salvatore
Department of Information Engineering and Mathematics, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Salerno, Italy.
Sensors (Basel). 2024 May 25;24(11):3401. doi: 10.3390/s24113401.
Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCMs) are versatile sensors employed in various fields, from environmental monitoring to biomedical applications, owing mainly to their very high sensitivity. However, the assessment of their metrological performance, including the impact of conditioning circuits, digital processing algorithms, and working conditions, is a complex and novel area of study. The purpose of this work is to investigate and understand the measurement errors associated with different QCM measurement techniques, specifically focusing on the influence of conditioning electronic circuits. Through a tailored and novel experimental setup, two measurement architectures-a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) system and an oscillator-based QCM-R system-were compared under the same mechanical load conditions. Through rigorous experimentation and signal processing techniques, the study elucidated the complexities of accurately assessing QCM parameters, especially in liquid environments and under large mechanical loads. The comparison between the two different techniques allows for highlighting the critical aspects of the measurement techniques. The experimental results were discussed and interpreted based on models allowing for a deep understanding of the measurement problems encountered with QCM-based measurement systems. The performance of the different techniques was derived, showing that while the QCM-D technique exhibited higher accuracy, the QCM-R technique offered greater precision with a simpler design. This research advances our understanding of QCM-based measurements, providing insights for designing robust measurement systems adaptable to diverse conditions, thus enhancing their effectiveness in various applications.
石英晶体微天平（QCM）是一种用途广泛的传感器，主要因其极高的灵敏度而应用于从环境监测到生物医学应用等各个领域。然而，评估其计量性能，包括调节电路、数字处理算法和工作条件的影响，是一个复杂且新颖的研究领域。这项工作的目的是研究和理解与不同QCM测量技术相关的测量误差，特别关注调节电子电路的影响。通过一个定制的新颖实验装置，在相同的机械负载条件下比较了两种测量架构——带有耗散监测的石英晶体微天平（QCM-D）系统和基于振荡器的QCM-R系统。通过严格的实验和信号处理技术，该研究阐明了准确评估QCM参数的复杂性，特别是在液体环境和大机械负载下。两种不同技术之间的比较有助于突出测量技术的关键方面。基于能够深入理解基于QCM的测量系统所遇到的测量问题的模型，对实验结果进行了讨论和解释。得出了不同技术的性能，结果表明，虽然QCM-D技术表现出更高的准确性，但QCM-R技术以更简单的设计提供了更高的精度。这项研究增进了我们对基于QCM的测量的理解，为设计适用于各种条件的稳健测量系统提供了见解，从而提高了它们在各种应用中的有效性。
