Quartz-crystal mass sensors with glued foil electrodes

Experimental data are presented which demonstrate that a quartz-crystal resonator (QCR) works properly with glued metallic foils both as a quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) (up to a specific load of about 3 x 10(-2) g cm-2) and as an electrochemical QCM (EQCM). AT-cut piano-convex QCRs with f(i) = 1.5 MHz in the case of the QCM and f(i) = 1.8 MHz in the case of the EQCM are used. The foils are glued over the entire surface area of the quartz resonator (Pt foil of 5 mu m thickness) or only upon its active vibrating surface area (Pt, Al, Cu and Ni foils of different thicknesses between 13.5 and 80 mu m). The response of the QCRs with glued metallic foils is linear with respect to the thickness or the mass in accordance with the theoretical predictions.