Preparation of PEGylated Lipopolymer based QCM coating

Abstract

This study present the preparation process of polymer coated a sensory device called quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for determination of odorant gas sample which belong to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The main polymer materials used were composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and lipid through pegylation process and the product was called PEGylated lipopolymer. The preparation of thin film layer was using three different methods which was dip method, drop method and spin method. The purpose of several coating technique used in this study was to choose the most suitable method to coat the QCM’s surface while different sensing materials were used. There was also a determination on sensor sensitivity of gas detection towards their concentration while purging to the system. The aim of gas measurement was to see at which concentration level will become the limit for coated sensor to detect gas sample. In addition, the gas sample used in this study were ethanol and hexane. Ethanol belong to alcohol group while hexane belong to alkane group. Furthermore, the results from gas measurement indicates that the sensitivity of sensors coated with PEGylated lipopolymer films are better for ethanol detection than hexane, and yet still lower compared to sensor coated with polymer and lipid films only.