Voltammetric exploration and applications of ultrasonic cavitation

Voltammetric measurements carried out in the presence of power ultrasound are reviewed, and the physical processes responsible for the observed substantial augmentation of mass transport identified as resulting from a mixture of acoustic streaming and cavitation. The benefits conferred in electroanalysis or electrosynthesis of insonation simultaneous with electrolysis are summarised. The use of ultrafast ("nanosecond") voltammetric measurements to probe the nature of the interfacial cavitational bubble dynamics is described and shown to provide information not readily accessed by other experiments. Lastly, voltammetry in acoustically emulsified (organic/aqueous) media is discussed. This has considerable "green" potential for electrosynthesis, whilst the use of nanosecond voltammetry to probe the charge transferred as emulsion droplets impinge on the electrode allows a generic approach to the determination of the potential of zero charge of the latter.