A carbon nanotube-based quartz crystal nanobalance for NH3 detection : Toward the assembling of a sensing platform

Here we report the fabrication and the testing of a quartz crystal nanobalance (QCN ) microsensor assembled using single-wall carbon nanotubes dispersed in a polymer matrix. The sensor was used for NH
₃
detection. The good performances of this sensor, characterized by a detection limit of 1 ppm and by fast response times , are compared with those of a resistive sensor assembled using the same SWNTs The research is aimed at combining different sensing devices based on carbon nanotubes for manufacturing a lab-on-chip hybrid system.