Modulation of sonochemical reactions by cavitation driven thermal degradation of aqueous salts solutions

Strategies for controlling or increasing the yield of radical reactions generated by ultrasonic cavitation in aqueous media have been the object of research for many years. Past studies have focused on the role of organic solvents in increasing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) formation or have investigated the effect of ultrasound on accelerating the OH radicals generation from Fenton reactive. More recently, piezoelectric micro-nanoparticles have shown a synergistic effect in activating specific reactions and increasing radicals production from ultrasound. Here we report the generation of ROS together with H₂ evolution or increase of oxidizing species during ultrasonic treatments of homogeneous concentrated aqueous solutions of simple salts as acidic phosphates, potassium sodium tartrate and alkaline nitrates. An increase in organic dye degradation efficiency, and the increase of reducing or oxidizing species compared with pure water has been found. The activation mechanism revealed a new, unexpected, approach to enhance the efficiency of sono-catalyzed reactions in aqueous media for environmental or energy applications.