Stability evaluation of quartz crystal microbalances coated with polyvinyl acetate nanofibrous mats as butanol vapor sensors

Stability is one of the crucial sensor properties to be applicable in real condition and yet hardly investigated. In this communication, we evaluated the stability of butanol vapor sensors that were constructed using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) platforms coated with electrospun polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) nanofibers. The reliability test was performed by monitoring the sensor frequency characteristics in a long-term measurement, in which the frequency shift was found to decrease by similar to 7% after the sensors have been tested for 100 times. This performance degradation was mainly attributed to the reduction of active membrane surface area caused by swelling of the nanofibers, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. This finding does not only allow us to better understand the nanofiber-coated QCM sensor limitation and degradation process, but also to design appropriate strategies for mitigating the device stability issues.