Application of parylene-coated quartz crystal microbalance for on-line real-time detection of microbial populations

A novel technique of applying a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor to the on-line real-time detection of microbial populations is described. The pQCM sensor was fabricated by depositing di-para-xylene (parylene) over the entire surface of a QCM sensor through a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. An electrically insulated film of parylene on the QCM sensor enabled the operation of the sensor in the liquid environment, and the resonance frequency of the pQCM sensor set in the medium of a cultivation flask shifted in response to the microbial population.The effects of pH, conductivity, and viscosity of the medium on the frequency shift of the pQCM sensor were investigated. Ignorable responses (less than 1% at 103 cells) were obtained during an incubation cycle.The detection limit of the pQCM sensor was identified as 102 cells ml−1 with a frequency shift of around 2 × 103 Hz. The cell numbers of Escherichia coli cultivated in both the YEM medium and whole milk were detected. A satisfactory correlation (r2 = 0.95) was obtained between the cell number and the response of the pQCM sensor.Experimental results suggest that the pQCM described here is applicable to the continuous long-term detection of microbial populations during a fermentation process.