IN SITU ELECTROANALYTICAL APPLICATIONS OF PIEZOELECTRIC QUARTZ CRYSTALS.

The electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, EQCM, has been used in situ to 'weigh' submonolayer, monolayer and multilayer amounts of material deposited on solid electrodes. Non-electrochemical variables which affect the frequency of an oscillating quartz crystal in solution were studied. A marked effect of temperature on the frequency was found, far in excess of the temperature effect observed for a quartz crystal not submerged in solution. This solution temperature effect was correlated with the temperature coefficient of the solution's kinematic viscosity. Instrumentation necessary to carry out EQCM experiments are described. The underpotential deposition of silver on gold and the behavior of films of chloride, bromide, iodide and sulfide on silver have also been investigated.