Applications of Acoustic Cavitation and Sonochemistry

Cavitation is a phenomenon of bubbles or void formation in a liquid due to the pressure reduction of liquid below its vapor pressure, which is mostly considered undesirable in an engineering context owing to the wear it causes to the equipment. On the contrary, this phenomenon can be viewed as a source of enormous energy, which on proper usage can be a path towards energy efficiency. Acoustic cavitation is one of the types of cavitation, where the sound waves control the phenomena of cavitation. The physical and chemical effects caused by acoustic cavitation and Sonoluminescence have been understood. All these properties lead to its application in various industries like waste water treatment, the food industry and in the biomedical industry. The implementation of acoustic cavitation in Sonochemistry and Sono crystallization was well analyzed. The role of acoustic cavitation in producing nanostructures was also explored. Many other direct and indirect roles of acoustic cavitation in various applications have been studied for opportunities to move towards energy-efficient ways.