Impedance analysis of an enhanced piezoelectric biosensor

This study investigated the usefulness and characteristics of a five-megahertz quartz crystal resonator oscillating in a thickness-shear mode as a sensor of biological pathogens such as Salmonella typhimurium . An impedance analyzer measured the impedance of the oscillating quartz crystal, which determined all mechanical properties of the oscillating quartz and its immediate environment.; In this study, the impedance behavior of the bare crystal was characterized in air and in potassium phosphate buffer solution. The potassium phosphate buffer was a Newtonian liquid. The resonance frequency of the oscillating quartz shifted down about 900 Hz by contacting with the buffer. An immobilized-antibody layer on the quartz surface behaved like a rigid mass when immersed in the buffer solution.; The quartz crystal with immobilized antibodies was characterized in various solutions containing antibody-coated paramagnetic microspheres and varying concentrations of Salmonella typhimurium (102 − 108 cells/ml). The Salmonella cells were captured by antibody-coated paramagnetic microspheres, and then these complexes were moved magnetically to the oscillating quartz and were captured by antibodies immobilized on the crystal surface. The response of the crystal was expressed in terms of equivalent circuit parameters. The motional inductance and the motional resistance increased as a function of the concentration of Salmonella. The viscous damping was the main contribution to the resistance and the inductance in a liquid environment. The load resistance was the most effective and sensitive circuit parameter.; A magnetic force was a useful method to collect the complexes of Salmonella-microspheres on the crystal surface and enhance the response sensor. In this system, the detection limit, based on resistance monitoring, was about 103 cells/ml.