Desenvolvimento e construção de sensor magnetoelástico de pH com eletrônica portátil

Abstract

Sensors with magnetoelastic materials are being developed for possible wireless measurements. They show variation of the resonance frequency (decrease) when subjected to a loading mass. May be employed for detection and determination of physical quantities via remote instrumentation that is becoming increasingly important. These quantities could be the pH of a solution or the detection of the presence of microorganisms. In this work, we describe a rapid and wireless detection system for physical quantities such as pH and the presence of microorganisms. We used as substrates strips of amorphous magnetoelastic material Metglas 2826MB3. The material was cut into strips with sizes of 30 mm x 6 mm and 5 mm x 1 mm, using a micro-dicing saw. Part of these were coated with thin layers of Cr and Au through sputtering. We developed a portable electronic device with the function of determining the resonance frequency of the magnetoelastic strips. This device can operate completely standalone or in conjunction with a computer. It is composed of a central processing, auxiliary circuits and input and output interface of data. The portable device produces a variable magnetic field, which in turn produces a longitudinal elastic wave which is detected magnetically. Tests were carried out with the bare transducer as well as after the application of pH-sensitive layers or material for the capture of microorganisms. For pH sensors we used transducer strips coated with Cr and Au and then applied a layer of cystamine (CYS) to promote adherence to the copolymer of acrylic acid and iso-octyl acrylate. The pH sensor was exposed to a range of pH (1.5 to 7.5) and was measured using the portable device and compared with results from an Agilent E5061B Network Analyzer. The measurements of the resonance frequency of the pH sensor showed a 70 Hz/pH variation for strips of 30 mm x 6 mm and 1000 Hz/pH for strips measuring 5 mm x 1 mm. Measurements were also carried out with the transducer functionalized using poly-l-lysine to capture S. cerevisiae. With the adherence of S. cerevisiae on the sensor surface, there was a reduction of the resonance frequency 531 Hz, which agrees quantitatively with values calculated for mass loading.