PEG Lipopolymers as Coatings for QCM Odor Sensors. Effect of Tether's Chain-length

Application of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors for odor sensing has been an important research topic. Proper performance of odor sensing systems with QCM sensors requires good discrimination among odor samples. Recently we have been studying pegylated lipopolymers -composed of lipid and poly(ethylene glycol). (PEG) The materials allowed for very good discrimination among odorants of different functional groups. Here we study lipopolymers with various molecular weight of PEG moiety. Our results indicate that the PEG chain length is an important factor influencing lipopolymer's sensing properties.