Analysis of the mass response of the electrochemical quartz-crystal nanobalance in horizontal and vertical geometry

Abstract We report a new design of a holder for mounting a quartz-crystal resonator in an electrochemical quartz-crystal nanobalance that is made of Teflon™. Application of this inert material and Viton™ O-rings allows us to mount a Pt-coated quartz-crystal resonator without use of any adhesive. The unique design permits easy and fast exchange of the quartz-crystal resonator. We report cyclic-voltammetry transients which are characteristic of a clean polycrystalline Pt electrode. We show two different modes of attaching the Teflon™ holder to an electrochemical cell: vertical and horizontal. We examine the mass response in these two cell geometries and demonstrate that the mass response is exactly the same for a low surface roughness Pt electrode. We present a new data treatment procedure based on data averaging and mathematical treatment based on the discrete Hartley transform. The results show that it significantly enhances the signal-to-noise ratio, yet preserves the mass response features characteristic of the system under investigation.