Prospects for the Use of Gold Nanoparticles to Increase the Sensitivity of an Acoustic Sensor in the Detection of Microbial Cells

Multimode Design and Piezoelectric Substrate Anisotropy Use to Improve Performance of Acoustic Liquid Sensors

Using acoustic wave modes propagation in piezoelectric plates loaded with conductive liquids, peculiarities of the mode-liquid acoustoelectric interaction are studied. It is found that (i) in contrast to bulk and surface acoustic waves propagating in piezoelectric semiconductors, the acoustoelectric attenuation of the modes is not symmetric in respect to its maximum, (ii) a large increase in attenuation may be accompanied by a small decrease in phase velocity and vice versa, (iii) the peculiarities are valid for "pure" (without beam steering) and "not pure" (with beam steering) modes, as well as for modes of different orders and polarizations, and (iv) conductivity of test liquid increases electromagnetic leakage between input and output transducers, affecting results of the measurements. To decrease the leakage, the liquid should be localized between transducers, outside the zone over them. If so, the mode sensitivity may be as large as 8.6 dB/(S/m) for amplitude and 107°/(S/m) for phase. However, because of comparable cross-sensitivity towards viscosity and dielectric permittivity, modes with selective detection of liquid conductivity are not found.

Sensor System Based on a Piezoelectric Resonator with a Lateral Electric Field for Virus Diagnostics

A sensor system based on a piezoelectric resonator with a lateral electric field in the frequency range 6-7 MHz of the electric field for virus detection is described. Through use of the transmissible virus causing gastroenteritis in pigs and specific antibodies, the possibility of detecting the virus in suspension in real time was determined. It was found that the frequency dependence of the real and imaginary parts of the electrical impedance of such a resonator loaded with a virus suspension changes significantly after the addition of specific antibodies to the suspension. No changes are observed if the antibodies are not specific. Thus, the results obtained illustrate the possibility of detecting viruses in situ, directly in the liquid phase, if the change in the real or imaginary parts of the electrical impedance after the addition of antibodies is used as an analytical signal. The possibility of virus detection in the presence of foreign viral particles has been illustrated.