Quartz Crystal Microbalance

In this experiment you will use a quartz crystal resonator to measure viscosity and mass

Questions

  1. What are the objectives in this experiment?
  2. Theory:
    1. Piezoelectricity: What is a piezoelectric crystal? What special properties does it have?
    2. Explain the term "resonance frequency". How can we induce resonance in the QCM?
    3. What is the resonant frequency of the setup in this experiment? What factors affect it in the experiment and how?
  3. Experimental setup:
    1. Explain the function of each electrode in the deposition/dissolution experiment.
    2. What is the electrochemical reaction occurring in the cell?
  4. Expected results:
    1. How do you expect the graph of Δf vs. time to appear in the deposition/dissolution experiment?
    2. Calculate Δf of a dry QCM when it is immersed in methanol, ethanol and propanol.
    3. How do you expect the graph of the viscosity vs. molar fraction to appear in the viscometer experiment? Draw schematics for ethanol/propanol and ethanol/water mixtures.