Passive characterization of quartz crystal microbalance sensors in highly viscous media.

• One-port S-parameter reflection passive method for QCM in high viscosity liquid media. • QCM circuit parameters with minimum frequency sweeps and optimized measurement speed. • Calibration with increasing viscosities from 0 % to approaching 99 % glycerol in water. • Experimental sensitivity of series resonance frequency and motional resistance. • Results of passive QCM measurement compared with obtained by other authors. The objective of this work is to perform and verify a method for the characterization of QCM sensors in passive mode using a network analyzer. The system allows the measurement of the series resonance frequency and the motional resistance of QCM resonators in highly viscous media in which the oscillators (QCM sensors in active mode) present operating problems. A calibration of the sensor system was carried out, finding sensitivities very close to the theoretical ones. The obtained results are compared with those of other authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]