Detection of polycyclic compounds as mutagens using piezoelectric quartz crystal coated with plasma-polymerized phthalocyanine derivatives

Polycyclic compounds as mutagens are detected in solution by oscillating frequency change in a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) coated with a plasma-polymerized Fe phthalocyanine (pp-FePc) or a Fe tetraphenyl-porphyrin (pp-FeTPP) film. This system utilizes the affinity of the mutagens to phthalocyanine derivatives attached to QCM with plasma polymerization. A linear relationship is obtained between frequency decrease and benzo[cc]pyrene concentration in the range 20-76 mu M. On the other hand, such responses are not obtained for other organic compounds such as ii-alcohol, n-hexane and benzene. These results indicate that this sensing system has good selectivity in detection of polycyclic mutagens such as amino acid pyrolysis products. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.