title: Modification of micro-cantilever sensors with sol-gels to enhance performance and immobilize chemically selective phases.
abstract: A chemical sensor based on the deflection of a surface modified silicon micro-cantilever is presented. A thin film of sol-gel was applied to one side of the micro-cantilever surface using a spin coating procedure. The sensor has been shown to give different responses to vapor phase analytes of varying chemical composition, as well as to varying concentrations of a given analyte. Ethanol, a highly polar molecule, exhibits a strong affinity for the polar sol-gel coating resulting in a large response; pentane, a non-polar hydrocarbon, shows very little response. The sol-gel coating has also been shown to function as a backbone for the immobilization of chemically selective phases on the cantilever surface. Reaction of the sol-gel film with chlorotriethoxysilane and subsequent capping of the remaining reactive surface silanols with hexamethyldisilizane increases the non-polar nature of the film. This results in an increase in the response of the sensor to non-polar analytes. The effects of film thickness and cantilever structure thickness on response were also investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37919, USA.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Fagan
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tipple
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sepaniak
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Datskos