Hydrodynamic Cavitation: A Promising Technology for Industrial-Scale Synthesis of Nanomaterials

Abstract

One of the most challenging issues for the large-scale application of nanomaterials, especially nanocarbons, is the lack of industrial synthetic methods. Sonochemistry, which creates an extreme condition of high pressure and temperature, has been thereby applied for synthesizing a wide variety of unusual nanostructured materials. Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), characterized by high effectiveness, good scalability, and synergistic effect with other physical and chemical methods, has emerged as the promising sonochemistry technology for industrial-scale applications. Recently, it was reported that HC can not only significantly enhance the performance of biochar, but also preserve or improve the respective chemical composition. Moreover, the economic efficiency was found to be at least one order of magnitude higher than that of conventional methods. Due to the great potential of HC in the industrial-scale synthesis of nanomaterials, the present perspective focuses on the mechanism of sonochemistry, advances in HC applications, and development of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors, which is supposed to contribute to the fundamental understanding of this novel technology.

Disinfection characteristics of an advanced rotational hydrodynamic cavitation reactor in pilot scale

“…On the contrary, hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), with the similar mechanism with AC, has been widely considered as an alternative technology to AC for large scales, as the advantages of good scalability, simple design, and low price [19] . Because HC phenomenon is induced by hydrodynamic cavitation reactors (HCRs), thus, HCR performance determines the disinfection effectiveness and cost [20] . In the past, various types of HCRs have been utilized to inactivate bacteria, yeasts, cyanobacteria, microalgae, and viruses, as demonstrated in Fig.…”

Hydrodynamic cavitation: A feasible approach to intensify the emulsion cross-linking process for chitosan nanoparticle synthesis

“… [28] reported that orifice-based HC reduced particle size to 37 nm; calcite synthesized without HC was 101 nm in size. HC has the advantages of being able to process high volumes in a continuous operation, producing NPs in an energy-efficient manner, and being comparatively easy to scale up [17] , [29] . Therefore, studying the HC-intensified synthesis of chitosan NPs based on the conventional emulsion cross-linking process is of great significance.…”

Experimental and numerical studies on the cavitation in an advanced rotational hydrodynamic cavitation reactor for water treatment

“…The combination of the mechanical, thermal, and chemical effects generated during a cavitation bubble collapse is widely considered to be responsible for the removal of pollutants [22] . Because HC is artificially generated by hydrodynamic cavitation reactors (HCRs), therefore, the design of high-performance HCRs is extremely vital for the effectiveness and economical efficiency of HC technology [23] . Unlike conventional HCRs (e.g., Venturi tubes or orifice plates) which have been widely utilized on a laboratory scale [24] , advanced rotational HCRs (ARHCRs) are found to yield significant effects in large numbers of scaled-up applications, such as water disinfection [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , decomposition of waste-activated sludge (WAS) [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , degradation of organic matter [35] , [36] , [37] , biofuel synthesis [38] , [39] , [40] , fibrillation [41] , intensification of biogas production [42] , and delignification [43] .…”