Journal
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Volume 87, Issue 5, Pages 2779-2787Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/ac504101a
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Funding
- National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health [R44DA031530]
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A small, portable gas chromatograph (GC) was assembled for the trace detection of controlled substances using a novel quartz crystal microbalance sensor (QCM). The QCM crystal surface was modified with a variety of sorption materials to increase adsorption thereby amplifying mass detection. Single polymer thin film coatings increased the QCM response by 1-2 orders of magnitude, while operating at over 100 degrees C. Adding a layer of carbonaceous nanomaterial (graphene or carbon nanotubes) above such a film dramatically increased sensitivity by up to 3 orders of magnitude compared to uncoated crystals. Separation and detection of submicrogram quantities of controlled substances was carried out within minutes by employing a GC column and detector temperature ramp up to 220 degrees C. An additional 10-fold enhancement in sensitivity was achieved by mechanical abrasion of the sample swabs used in the sample introduction process. This study demonstrated a novel use of a polymer composite modified QCM as a chemical sensor at high temperatures.
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