Development of mass sensitive sensor platform based on plasma polymerization technique: Quartz tuning fork as transducer

Abstract

This paper describes a modification process of QTFs' prongs with stable amine containing bilayer plasma polymer film and an application of quartz tuning fork (QTF) as a transducer for biomedical application. To produce stable amine containing film, first, we created plasma polymer films from hexane precursors. We then subjected those films to a second capping layer of ethylenediamine plasma polymer. The film was characterized by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effect of the interfacial structure onto stability was also analyzed in air. A model protein, BSA, sensing experiments were examined by measuring the shift in the resonance frequency of QTFs. The performance of the proposed sensor was investigated in terms of quality factor. These findings reveal that amine containing bilayer coated QTFs have the potential to be used in mass sensitive biosensor applications for future.