Layer by Layer Optimization of Langmuir–Blodgett Films for Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Based Sensors for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) Detection

Rayleigh surface acoustic wave (RSAW)-based resonant sensors, functionalized with single and multiple monomolecular layers of Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films, were thickness and density optimized for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC), which could impose a serious threat on the environment and human health. Single layers of a phospholipid (SLP), hexane dissolved arachidic acid (HDAA), and chloroform dissolved arachidic acid (CDAA) were used for the LB film preparation. Several layers of these compounds were deposited on top of each other onto the active surface of high-Q 434 MHz two-port RSAW resonators in a LB trough to prepare a highly sensitive vapor detection quartz surface microbalance (QSM). Frequency shift was measured with a vector network analyzer (VNA). These devices were probed with saturated vapors of hexane, chloroform, methanol, acetone, ethanol, and water after each deposited layer to test the behavior of the QSM’s insertion loss, loaded Q, vapor sensitivity, and to find the optimum trade-off between these parameters for the best real-life sensor performance. With 2200 ppm and 3700 ppm sensitivity to chloroform, HDAA and CDAA coated QSM devices reached the optimum sensor performance at 15 and 11–15 monolayers, respectively. Surface pressure optimized single monolayers of phospholipid LB films were found to provide up to 530 ppm sensitivity to chloroform vapors with a negligible reduction in loss and loaded Q. This vapor sensitivity is higher than the mass of the sensing layer itself, making SLP films an excellent choice for QSM functionalization.