Publication
After much work, I am happy to report that the first paper utilising the modelling work from my PhD based on acoustic sensors has been published. It is part of the results section in the main publication from Trevor McArdle’s PhD and is titled “Optimizing the Mass-Specific Activity of Bilirubin Oxidase Adlayers through Combined Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance and Dual Polarization Interferometry Analyses”.
Contribution
My contribution to the work was in the modelling of the Δd vs Δf responses in addition to collecting QCM-D data for the revision. These Δd vs Δf plots are particularly useful when trying to resolve what viscoelastic changes are occurring at the layer.
A straight line in a Δd vs Δf plot denotes a layer whose dissipation value remains monotonic with the amount of mass adsorbed onto the surface. A deviation in this shows that the layer being adsorbed has a different mechanical structure per unit of mass on the surface. Here we used the mathematical models to predict Δd vs Δf plots for cases where the shear modulus and/or viscosity of the layer was changing in addition to the other known changes overtime from DPI. These plots were then compared to the predictions to gain insight into the changes on the surface of the sensor.
Future work
This is only a small fraction of the modelling that I have done and the first of my major findings should be submitted in the next few weeks, with the remainder of the work being hopefully submitted before Christmas. Should there be time, the aim is to attempt to submit a third paper with more of an application scope, but this will be dependent on the time required to write my thesis.
I will post a link to the first main modelling paper when it is published here in the form of an update.