The sonochemical hot spot

The origin of “sonochemistry” is acoustic cavitation: the formation, expansion, and implosive collapse of bubbles in liquids irradiated with ultrasound. The compression of such bubbles generates intense local heating, which has been quantified recently from both chemical kinetic thermometry and from high-resolution sonoluminescence spectra. The temperatures reached during cavitation are ≈5000 K, but have an effective lifetime of only a few microseconds. Consistent with this, the sonoluminescence that accompanies sonochemistry closely resembles flame emission! The chemistry generated by these hot spots is different than either ordinary thermal or photochemical processes and sonochemistry represents a fundamentally unique interaction of energy and matter. [For recent reviews see K. S. Suslick, Sci. Am. 260, 80 (Feb. 1989) and Science 247, 1439 (1990).] Recently, the use of ultrasound in liquid-powder slurries to enhance dramatically their chemical reactivity has been explored. For example, heterogeneous catalysis can be induced in normally nonreactive metals and the catalytic activity of Ni has been enhanced by 105. Using a variety of surface science techniques, it was shown that ultrasound removed the passivating oxide coating normally found on Ni and other metal surfaces, thus increasing their activity. The origin of these effects comes from extremely high-speed interparticle collisions which occur during ultrasonic irradiation of liquid-solid slurries. Turbulent flow and shockwaves produced by acoustic cavitation can drive metal particles together at sufficiently high velocities to induce melting upon collision. A series of transition metal powders have been used to probe the maximum temperatures and speeds reached during such interparticle collisions. Metal particles that are irradiated in hydrocarbon liquids with ultrasound undergo collisions at roughly half the speed of sound and generate localized effective temperatures between 2600°C and 3400°C at the point of impact. [Work supported by NSF and the UIUC Materials Res. Lab.]