Sonochemistry

Sonochemistry starts off asking the questions: what is sonochemistry and why is it important? It has been recognised for many years that power ultrasound has great potential for uses in a wide variety of processes in the chemical and allied industries. Reported applications include cleaning, sterilization, flotation, drying, degassing, defoaming, soldering, plastic welding, drilling, filtration, homogenization, emulsification, dissolution, deaggregation of powder, biological cell disruption, extraction, crystallization and, more recently, as a stimulus for chemical reactions. With the increasing use of power ultrasound in chemistry comes the need for specialist text books covering this emerging discipline. The text also asks: what systems are affected by sonochemistry? It looks at the major applications of this technique, the types of ultrasonic equipment that are available, how the different types of equipment compare, and how the equipment is best configured for chemical applications. Finally, it asks: what parameters can be changed to optimize sonochemical results and what equipment is available for the scale-up of sonochemistry?