Mechanism of sonochemical reduction of permanganate to manganese dioxide in aqueous alcohol solutions: Reactivities of reducing species formed by alcohol sonolysis.

The sonochemical reduction of MnO4(-) to MnO2 in aqueous solutions was investigated as a function of alcohol concentration under Ar. The rate of MnO4(-) reduction initially decreased with increasing alcohol concentration, and then increased when the alcohol concentration was increased further. The concentrations at which the reduction rates were minimum depended on the hydrophobic properties of the added alcohols under ultrasonic irradiation. At low concentrations, the alcohols acted as OH radical scavengers; at high concentrations, they acted as reductant precursors: Rab, formed by abstraction reactions of the alcohols with sonochemically formed OH radicals or H atoms, and Rpy, formed by alcohol pyrolysis under ultrasonic irradiation. The results suggest that the reactivity order of the sonochemically formed reducing species with MnO4(-) at pH 7-9 is the sum of H2O2 and H>Rpy>Rab. The peak wavelengths of MnO2 colloidal solutions formed at high 1-butanol concentrations shifted to shorter wavelengths, suggesting the formation of small particles at high 1-butanol concentrations. The rates of sonochemical reduction of MnO2 to Mn(2+) in the presence of 1-butanol were slower than that in the absence of 1-butanol, because the sonochemical formation of H2O2 and H, which act as reductants, was suppressed by 1-butanol in aqueous solutions.

One-pot synthesis of gold nanorods by ultrasonic irradiation: the effect of pH on the shape of the gold nanorods and nanoparticles.

A novel one-pot synthesis method to prepare gold nanorods was developed by using sonochemical reduction of gold ions in aqueous solution. The size of the sonochemically formed gold nanorods was less than 50 nm, and their average aspect ratio decreased with increasing pH of the solution. The aspect ratio measured was 3.0 at pH 3.5, 2.2 at pH 5.0, and 2.1 at pH 6.5. At pH 7.7, irregular shaped gold nanoparticles were formed. At pH 9.8, most of the particles formed had a spherical shape with a smaller particle size than those formed in the lower pH solutions. Based on the obtained results, it was clear that the size and shape of the sonochemically formed gold nanoparticles are dramatically dependent on the pH value of the solution.

Formation of formic acid, acetic acid and lactic acid from decomposition of citric acid by coal ash particles at room temperature.

It was found for the first time that citric acid was decomposed to formic acid, acetic acid and lactic acid in the presence of coal ash particles at pH 3 at 20 degrees C, while it was not decomposed at more than pH 5. The yield of organic acid at stirring time of 60 min is in the order of formic acid>acetic acid>lactic acid. Since citric acid dissociates to citric anion at more than pH 5, it was suggested that citric anion and negatively charged coal ash particles repelled electrically each other at more than pH 5, resulting in that citric acid could not be adsorbed and not be decomposed on coal ash. Based on the obtained results, the decomposition of citric acid at pH 3 was suggested to be due to catalytic effects of coal ash. Since formic acid and acetic acid can be used as a material of hydrogen fermentation, coal ash could be used as a catalyst to synthesize the important material for hydrogen fermentation from wastewater of citric acid.

Comparison between the effects of ultrasound and gamma-rays on the inactivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: analyses of cell membrane permeability and DNA or RNA synthesis by flow cytometry.

The effects of 200 kHz ultrasonic irradiation on DNA or RNA formation and membrane permeability of yeast cells were investigated by flow cytometry and compared with those of (60)Co gamma-ray radiation. Colony counting analyses were also performed for comparison. It was observed that the colony-forming activity of yeast cells was not affected by small doses of ultrasonic irradiation, but was closely related to the amounts of sonolytically formed hydrogen peroxide at concentrations of more than 80 microM. On the other hand, gamma-rays directly retarded colony-forming ability in addition to the effects of radiolytically formed hydrogen peroxide. The results obtained by flow cytometry also indicated that the amounts of DNA or RNA formed decreased with an increase in ultrasonic irradiation time without any threshold. These results indicated that flow cytometry can show early growth activities, but that colony counting analyses are insufficient to evaluate continuous and quantitative changes in these activities. In addition, by analyzing the amounts of DNA or RNA formed in the presence of the same amount of hydrogen peroxide, it was found that DNA or RNA formation behavior in the presence of hydrogen peroxide with no irradiation was similar to that following ultrasonic irradiation. These results suggested that similar chemical effects due to the formation of hydrogen peroxide were produced during ultrasonic irradiation. In addition, physical effects of ultrasound, such as shock wave, hardly contributed to cell inactivation and cell membrane damage, because relatively high frequency ultrasound was used here. In the case of gamma-ray radiation, direct physical effects on the cells were clearly observed.

Sonochemical reduction of permanganate to manganese dioxide: the effects of H2O2 formed in the sonolysis of water on the rates of reduction.

Chemical effects of ultrasound have been actively researched in the field of the synthesis of various metal nanoparticles and nanostructured materials. It is very important to understand the reduction mechanism of metal ions, because the reduction processes can be often applied to the synthesis of various materials. In this study, the sonochemical reduction of MnO4- to MnO2 in water under Ar atmosphere was investigated to discuss the reduction mechanism. It has been reported that H, OH, H2 and H2O2 are formed from the sonolysis of water. To understand the roles of H2O2 on the reduction, the reaction of MnO4- with H2O2 without ultrasonic irradiation was investigated. The obtained results suggested the progress of the following reaction: 2MnO4-+3H2O2-->2MnO2+3O2+2OH-+2H2O. In addition, the rates of the sonochemical reduction of MnO4- were investigated in the presence of 1-propanol, where 1-propanol acted as an OH radical scavenger so that the amounts of the sonochemically formed H2O2 molecules were able to be controlled. The results clearly indicated that the sonochemically formed H2O2 molecules as well as H2 molecules and H atoms play an important role for MnO4- reduction. This mechanism was also supported by the analysis of pH changes during ultrasonic irradiation: the pH value increased as the sonochemical reduction of MnO4- proceeded.

Acoustic multibubble cavitation in water: A new aspect of the effect of a rare gas atmosphere on bubble temperature and its relevance to sonochemistry.

Acoustic cavitation generates transient microbubbles with extremely high temperatures and high pressures, which can provide unique reaction routes. The maximum bubble temperature attained is widely known to be dependent on the polytropic index and thermal conductivity of the dissolved gas. Here, we show for the first time experimental evidence that the bubble temperature induced by a high frequency ultrasound is almost the same among different rare gases and the chemical efficiency is in proportion to the gas solubility of rare gases, which would be closely related to the number of active bubbles.

Sonochemical degradation of azo dyes in aqueous solution: a new heterogeneous kinetics model taking into account the local concentration of OH radicals and azo dyes.

The sonochemical decolorization and decomposition of azo dyes, such as C. I. Reactive Red 22 and methyl orange, were performed from the viewpoints of wastewater treatment and to determine the reaction kinetics. A low concentration of the azo dye solution was irradiated with a 200 kHz and 1.25 W/cm2 ultrasound in a homogeneous aqueous solution. The azo dye solutions were readily decolorized by the irradiation. The sonochemical decolorization was also depressed by the addition of the t-butyl alcohol radical scavenger. These results indicated that azo dye molecules were mainly decomposed by OH radicals formed from the water sonolysis. In this paper, we propose a new kinetics model taking into account the heterogeneous reaction kinetics similar to a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism or an Eley-Rideal mechanism. The proposed kinetics model is based on the local reaction site at the interface region of the cavitation bubbles, where azo dye molecules are quickly decomposed because an extremely high concentration of OH radicals exists in this region. To confirm the proposed kinetics model, the effects of the initial concentration of azo dyes, irradiated atmosphere and pH on the decomposition rates were investigated. The obtained results were in good agreement with the proposed kinetics model.

Atmospheric concentrations of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, nitric acid, formic and acetic acids in the south of Vietnam measured by the passive sampling method.

A passive sampling method was applied to measure the concentrations of air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, and nitric, formic and acetic acids, in the ambient air at four test sites in the southern region of Vietnam. The monthly averages and the average concentrations of air pollutants during the period from July 2001 to September 2002 are reported here. The concentrations of air pollutants varied widely, depending on the test sites and the sampling periods. The average concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the air during the period from July 2001 to September 2002 at the four test sites were 3.3-16.9 ppb, and those of nitrogen dioxide were 5.4-12.8 ppb. The concentrations of nitrogen monoxide and hydrogen chloride were very low at all of the test sites. The observed concentrations of all of the above-mentioned pollutants were lower than those of the Vietnamese standards of air pollutants.