No abstract

Acoustic cavitation energy distributions were investigated for various frequencies such as 35, 72, 110 and 170 kHz in a large-scale sonoreactor. The energy analyses were conducted in three-dimensions and the highest and most stable cavitation energy distribution was obtained not in 35 kHz but in 72 kHz. However, the half-cavitation-energy distance was larger in the case of 35 kHz ultrasound than in the case of 72 kHz, demonstrating that cavitation energy for one cycle was higher for a lower frequency. This discrepancy was due to the large surface area of the cavitation-energy-meter probe. In addition, 110 and 170 kHz ultrasound showed a very low and poor cavitation energy distribution. Therefore larger input power was required to optimize the use of higher frequency ultrasound in the sonoreactor with long-irradiation distance. The relationship between cavitation energy and sonochemical efficiency using potassium iodide (KI) dosimetry was best fitted quadratically. From 7.77 x 10(-10) to 4.42 x 10(-9)mol/J of sonochemical efficiency was evaluated for the cavitation energy from 31.76 to 103. 67 W. In addition, the cavitation energy attenuation was estimated under the assumption that cavitation energy measured in this study would be equivalent to sound intensity, resulting in 0.10, 0.18 and 2.44 m(-1) of the attenuation coefficient (alpha) for 35, 72 and 110 kHz, respectively. Furthermore, alpha/(frequency)(2) was not constant, as some previous studies have suggested.

The effects of frequency in chlorobenzene, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride have been experimentally investigated in this study. The irradiation frequencies were 35, 74, 170, 300 and 1000 kHz. The degradation rates of chlorobenzene, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride were highest at 300 kHz. The results of between formation of hydrogen peroxide concentration and degradation of chlorinated compounds were not a coincidence. Methods of the sonochemical efficiency were needed to review. The concentration of total organic carbon was remained after 4 h of sonication. High power intensity, longer sonication time, addition of catalysts and combination of the AOP process, were needed for the degradation of TOC. The formation of chloride ion in aqueous solution was evident for the degradation of chlorinated compounds. However, the theoretical concentration of chloride ion was higher than the measured concentration. This means that the remaining chlorinated contaminants in each solution cannot complete dechlorination and some intermediated were produced.

The influence of solution chemistry and soft protein coronas on the interactions between citrate-coated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and model biological membranes was investigated by assembling supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) composed of zwitterionic 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) on silica crystal sensors in a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Our results show that the deposition rates of AgNPs on unmodified silica surfaces increased with increasing electrolyte concentrations under neutral pH conditions. Similar trends were observed when AgNPs were deposited on SLBs, hence indicating that the deposition of AgNPs on model cell membranes was controlled by electrostatic interactions. In the presence of human serum albumin (HSA) proteins at both pH 7 and pH 2, the colloidal stability of AgNPs was considerably enhanced due to the formation of HSA soft coronas surrounding the nanoparticles. At pH 7, the deposition of AgNPs on SLBs was suppressed in the presence of HSA due to steric repulsion between HSA-modified AgNPs and SLBs. In contrast, pronounced deposition of HSA-modified AgNPs on SLBs was observed at pH 2. This observation was attributed to the reduction of electrostatic repulsion as well as conformation changes of adsorbed HSA under low pH conditions, resulting in the decrease of steric repulsion between AgNPs and SLBs.

The effect of ultrasound on the conventional mechanical soil-washing process was investigated. To determine the optimal frequency for maximum efficiency, tests were conducted with aluminum foils under four frequencies including 35, 72, 110, and 170 kHz. It is known that the physical effects generated during acoustic cavitation damage the foil by causing pits and holes. The sonication at 35 kHz resulted in maximum damage to the aluminum foil as compared to that observed at other frequencies. Based on these results, 35 kHz was selected for the ultrasonic soil-washing processes in this study. The optimal washing time was found to be 1 min, because there was no significant increase in the removal efficiency over 1 min for the three processes, mechanical, ultrasonic, and combined ultrasonic-mechanical. It was also found that the combined process enhanced the performance of the soil-washing process significantly as compared to other two processes in terms of (i) diesel removal efficiency, (ii) process time, (iii) consumption of electric energy, and (iv) production of washing leachate. The efficiency of washing under ultrasonic processing conditions was similar to that observed with mechanical washing in the presence of small amounts of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), suggesting that the ultrasonic washing process does not require external chemicals and can be considered as a "green" process.