Microbalance
Encyclopedia
A microbalance is an instrument capable of making precise measurements of weight of objects of relatively small mass: of the order of a million parts of a gram
. In comparison, a standard analytical balance is 100 times less sensitive; i.e. it is limited in precision to 0.1 milligrams. Microbalances are generally used in a laboratory as standalone instruments but are also incorporated into other instruments, such asnermogravimetry]], sorption/desorption systems, and surface property instruments.It is the precision of the microbalance that distinguishes it from other weighing devices.
Quartz crystal microbalance
is a very sensitive mass deposition sensor based on the piezoelectric properties of the quartz crystal. This technique uses the changes in resonance frequency of the crystal to measure the mass on the surface because the resonance frequency is highly dependent on any changes of the crystal mass.
A quartz crystal microbalance is capable of measuring mass deposition down to 0.1 nanograms. The sensitivity of the microbalance is lessened the closer the fulcrum is to the middle.
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
. In comparison, a standard analytical balance is 100 times less sensitive; i.e. it is limited in precision to 0.1 milligrams. Microbalances are generally used in a laboratory as standalone instruments but are also incorporated into other instruments, such asnermogravimetry]], sorption/desorption systems, and surface property instruments.It is the precision of the microbalance that distinguishes it from other weighing devices.
Quartz crystal microbalance
Quartz crystal microbalance
A quartz crystal microbalance measures a mass per unit area by measuring the change in frequency of a quartz crystal resonator. The resonance is disturbed by the addition or removal of a small mass due to oxide growth/decay or film deposition at the surface of the acoustic resonator...
is a very sensitive mass deposition sensor based on the piezoelectric properties of the quartz crystal. This technique uses the changes in resonance frequency of the crystal to measure the mass on the surface because the resonance frequency is highly dependent on any changes of the crystal mass.
A quartz crystal microbalance is capable of measuring mass deposition down to 0.1 nanograms. The sensitivity of the microbalance is lessened the closer the fulcrum is to the middle.