Fabrication of silver nanoparticles deposited on boehmite sol for surface enhanced Raman scattering

The composite consisting of silver nanoparticles deposited on boehmite hybrid was synthesized by NaBH4 reduction technique. The morphology of the composite was studied by TEM, UV/Vis spectrophotometer and particle sizer. The size of the silver nanoparticles deposited on the surface of the boehmite ranged from 10 nm to 100 nm. The contact of silver nanoparticles increased by means of deposition of silver nanoparticles on the boehmite sol and the aggregation of the composites. This leads to the appearance of a shoulder at 450 nm in the UV–Vis absorption spectra with the addition of 0.15 mg and 1.5 mg boehmite. It was found that the intensity of the SERS in the case of the composite was higher than for silver colloids consisting of a concentration of silver greater than 3.2 mM

Mechanism of enhancement of sonochemical-reaction efficiency by pulsed ultrasound

The enhancement of sonochemical-reaction efficiency by pulsed ultrasound at 152 kHz has been studied experimentally through absorbance measurements of triiodide ions from sonochemical oxidation of potassium iodide at different liquid volumes to determine sonochemical efficiency defined by reacted molecules per input ultrasonic energy. The mechanism for enhancement of the reaction efficiency by pulsed ultrasound is discussed using captured images of sonochemiluminescence (SCL), and measured time-resolved signals of the SCL pulses and pressure amplitudes. The high sonochemical-reaction efficiency by pulsed ultrasound, compared with that by continuous-wave ultrasound, is attributed both to the residual pressure amplitude during the pulse-off time and to the spatial enlargement of active reaction sites

Numerical simulations of acoustic cavitation noise with the temporal fluctuation in the number of bubbles

Numerical simulations of cavitation noise have been performed under the experimental conditions reported by Ashokkumar et al. (2007) [26]. The results of numerical simulations have indicated that the temporal fluctuation in the number of bubbles results in the broad-band noise. "Transient" cavitation bubbles, which disintegrate into daughter bubbles mostly in a few acoustic cycles, generate the broad-band noise as their short lifetimes cause the temporal fluctuation in the number of bubbles. Not only active bubbles in light emission (sonoluminescence) and chemical reactions but also inactive bubbles generate the broad-band noise. On the other hand, "stable" cavitation bubbles do not generate the broad-band noise. The weaker broad-band noise from a low-concentration surfactant solution compared to that from pure water observed experimentally by Ashokkumar et al. is caused by the fact that most bubbles are shape stable in a low-concentration surfactant solution due to the smaller ambient radii than those in pure water. For a relatively high number density of bubbles, the bubble-bubble interaction intensifies the broad-band noise. Harmonics in cavitation noise are generated by both "stable" and "transient" cavitation bubbles which pulsate nonlinearly with the period of ultrasound

Optical cavitation probe using light scattering from bubble clouds

To understand the behaviour of systems containing clouds of bubbles (multibubble system) in real sonochemical reactors, a new diagnosis method, i.e., optical cavitation probe (OCP), has been proposed. When a laser beam is introduced into the cavitation bubble cloud, the scattered light intensity changes by the collective oscillation of cavitation bubbles. The frequency domain spectrum of the scattered light contains rich information on the cavitation bubble clouds, comparable with the acoustic emission spectra detected by a hydrophone. The significant merits of OCP, such as capability for spatially resolved, non-invasive measurement of the cavitation bubble clouds, robustness even in a violent cavitation field have been experimentally demonstrated. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Fabrication of silver nanoparticles deposited on boehmite sol for surface enhanced Raman scattering

The composite consisting of silver nanoparticles deposited on boehmite hybrid was synthesized by NaBH4 reduction technique. The morphology of the composite was studied by TEM, UV/Vis spectrophotometer and particle sizer. The size of the silver nanoparticles deposited on the surface of the boehmite ranged from 10 nm to 100 nm. The contact of silver nanoparticles increased by means of deposition of silver nanoparticles on the boehmite sol and the aggregation of the composites. This leads to the appearance of a shoulder at 450 nm in the UV–Vis absorption spectra with the addition of 0.15 mg and 1.5 mg boehmite. It was found that the intensity of the SERS in the case of the composite was higher than for silver colloids consisting of a concentration of silver greater than 3.2 mM

Study of an acoustic field in a microchannel

Using a standing-wave field, it is possible to trap small objects at nodes of a sound pressure distribution. In the present study, a sound wave was generated by a transducer outside of a microchannel, and propagated into a microchannel on a glass plate, where it generated a standing wave field. When water containing alumina particles was injected into the microchannel, several layers of particles were formed in the sound field. Moreover, when the ultrasound driving frequency was swept, it was possible to control the direction of the particle flow. The sound field was numerically calculated and the experimental results are discussed

The range of ambient radius for an active bubble in sonoluminescence and sonochemical reactions

Numerical simulations of nonequilibrium chemical reactions inside an air bubble in liquid water irradiated by ultrasound have been performed for various ambient bubble radii. The intensity of sonoluminescence (SL) has also been calculated taking into account electron-atom bremsstrahlung, radiative attachment of electrons to neutral molecules, radiative recombination of electrons and ions, chemiluminescence of OH, molecular emission from nitrogen, etc. The lower bound of ambient radius for an active bubble in SL and sonochemical reactions nearly coincides with the Blake threshold for transient cavitation. The upper bound is in the same order of magnitude as that of the linear resonance radius. In actual experiments, however, the distribution of ambient radius for active bubbles may be narrow at around the threshold ambient radius for the shape instability. The threshold peak temperature inside an air bubble for nitrogen burning is higher than that for oxidant formation. The threshold peak temperatures depend on ultrasonic frequency and acoustic amplitude because chemical reactions inside a bubble are in nonequilibrium. The dominant emission mechanism in SL is electron-atom bremsstrahlung except at a lower bubble temperature than 2000 K, for which molecular emissions may be dominant

Study of an acoustic field in a microchannel

Using a standing-wave field, it is possible to trap small objects at nodes of a sound pressure distribution. In the present study, a sound wave was generated by a transducer outside of a microchannel, and propagated into a microchannel on a glass plate, where it generated a standing wave field. When water containing alumina particles was injected into the microchannel, several layers of particles were formed in the sound field. Moreover, when the ultrasound driving frequency was swept, it was possible to control the direction of the particle flow. The sound field was numerically calculated and the experimental results are discussed

Spatial distribution enhancement of sonoluminescence activity by altering sonication and solution conditions

An intensified charge-couped device (CCD) camera was used to capture raw images of multibubble sonoluminescence, generated by 168 and 448 kHz ultrasound. The effect of various air and surfactant concentrations, and pulse conditions on the acoustic pressure distribution, percentage of standing wave component, the structure of the sonoluminescence activity, and speed of streaming was investigated. It was observed that the enhancement in the sonoluminescence intensity by appropriate degassing, pulsing, and addition of sodium dodecylsulfate were closely related to an expansion in the spatial distribution of sonoluminescence activity. This broadening in the spatial distribution is correlated with a high percentage of standing wave component. This effect stems from the reduction in the attenuation of the acoustic field by inhibiting the formation of large coalesced bubbles

Influence of surface active solute on ultrasonic waveform distortion in liquid containing air bubbles

The influence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on waveform distortion of 141 kHz ultrasonic standing waves in liquids containing air bubbles was investigated for various transducer powers. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) operations were performed on the pressure waveform to obtain the harmonic components. In addition, the intensity of sonoluminescence (SL) was measured as a function of the power. Waveform distortion was observed for water at high applied power, with the curve exhibiting a steeper gradient for positive pressures and a broadened minimum for negative pressures. This was in reasonable agreement with theoretical studies reported in the literature. Much less distortion was found for a 1 mM SDS solution as the applied power was increased than for water or a 10 mM SDS solution. This may be attributed to a lower population of large coalesced bubbles in the 1 mM solution due to electrostatic repulsion, leading to damping of the sound energy and little cavitation noise because of viscous resistance to bubble radial motion in addition to adsorption and desorption of surfactant molecules at the bubble-liquid interface. For 10 mM SDS, the power threshold for the harmonic components was lower than that for the SL. In this case, it appears that there is a range of applied powers where most bubbles are stable and cannot collapse. The influence of the addition of an electrolyte and a nonionic surfactant was also investigated