The adsorption of fibronectin on gold, Ti-, and Ta-oxide surfaces is investigated by means of the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) technique. The surface chemistry (gold, Ti-, and Ta-oxide) is found to influence the frequency shift observed during adsorption of the fibronectin layer with the magnitude being Delta f(Au) > Delta f(Ti-oxide) similar to Delta f(Ta-oxide). Corresponding variations in the dissipation change normalised to frequency change (Delta D/Delta f) for the layer are observed. The QCM-D data are further analyzed by the random sequential adsorption (RSA) model, and adsorption rate parameter k(a) and footprint (a) determined, which supported the trend seen in the Delta f and Delta D/Delta f values. The value of k(a) found by the RSA modelling of the QCM-D resonance frequency data is found to match the ratio between the mass measured by QCM-D and the mass reported by optical techniques in literature. We conclude that comparison of the adsorption rate parameter (k(a)) obtained by RSA modelling of the QCM-D data with k(a) values obtained from RSA modelling of data obtained using optical techniques can be a route to determine the degree of hydration of the adsorbed protein layer. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.