Small volume laboratory on a chip measurements incorporating the quartz crystal microbalance to measure the viscosity-density product of room temperature ionic liquids

A microfluidic glass chip system incorporating a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to measure the square root of the viscosity-density product of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) is presented. The QCM covers a central recess on a glass chip, with a seal formed by tightly clamping from above outside the sensing region. The change in resonant frequency of the QCM allows for the determination of the square root viscosity-density product of RTILs to a limit of similar to 10 kg m(-2) s(-0.5). This method has reduced the sample size needed for characterization from 1.5 ml to only 30 mu l and allows the measurement to be made in an enclosed system.