InIn modern industrial and scientific research fields, ultrasonic technology has become an efficient, green, and multifunctional liquid treatment method. As a manufacturer of ultrasonic instruments, we often face users' questions: why can an ultrasonic instrument simultaneously achieve multiple functions such as ultrasonic crushing, extraction, extraction, emulsification, and dispersion? These functions may seem diverse, but their core stems from the fundamental principle of ultrasonic sonochemistry - cavitation effect.

This article will start with the definition of ultrasonic sonochemistry, elaborate on its working principle, and analyze the implementation mechanism of the above functions and their value in specific application scenarios one by one.

1、 Definition and principle of ultrasonic sonochemistry

Acoustic sonochemistry refers to a unique physical and chemical reaction phenomenon induced by a high-power ultrasonic treatment system (equipment) in a liquid medium, with the core mechanism being the "cavitation effect". Cavitation effect is a dynamic process of liquid under the action of high-frequency ultrasonic field. specific

When ultrasonic waves are released into the liquid through the ultrasonic emitter in the form of high-frequency vibrations of 20-40 kHz, the sound pressure fluctuation will reach a critical value, causing the formation of tiny bubbles in the liquid. These bubbles rapidly expand, compress, and eventually collapse and close during the positive and negative pressure cycles of sound waves.

The intensity of cavitation effect depends on ultrasonic power, frequency, liquid properties (such as viscosity, surface tension), and environmental factors (such as temperature, pressure). A typical ultrasonic instrument is typically equipped with adjustable power output (several hundred watts to several kilowatts) and probe design, which can adapt to different volumes of liquid processing. This allows the same device to achieve multiple functions through parameter adjustment without the need to replace hardware. Next, we will explore the principles and applications of these functions.

2、 Multi functional analysis of ultrasonic instruments

The reason why an ultrasonic instrument can define multiple functions such as ultrasonic crushing, extraction, extraction, emulsification, and dispersion is fundamentally due to the multifaceted nature of cavitation effect.The collapse of cavitation bubbles produces high temperature, high pressure, shock waves, and microjets that can simultaneously act on particles, molecules, and interfaces in liquids, achieving various effects such as fragmentation, mixing, and separation. Specifically:

• Fracture:Shock waves and microjets directly damage solid structures, such as cell walls.

• Extraction/Extraction:Enhance solute diffusion and promote the release of active ingredients from solids.

• Emulsification/Homogenization:Promote the interface fusion of immiscible phase to form a stable lotion.

• dispersed:Break down particle agglomeration and ensure uniform distribution.

These functions are not isolated, but based on the same physical foundation, switched by adjusting ultrasound power, time, and medium (such as adding surfactants). Below are detailed one by one.

3、 Actual application scenarios

1. Ultrasonic fragmentation: damaging the structurereleasecontents

Ultrasonic fragmentation mainly utilizes the mechanical impact and shear force of cavitation effect to destroy the structure of solid particles or biological cells and achieve the release of internal substances. This is particularly important in the fields of biology and materials.

In applications, ultrasonic disruption is commonly used for cell lysis. For example, in a biomedical laboratory, researchers need to extract proteins, DNA, or enzymes from bacteria or yeast cells.

Traditional methods such as mechanical grinding or high-pressure homogenizers often lead to sample contamination or thermal degradation, while ultrasonic fragmentation can be precisely operated at low temperatures: cavitation microjets collide with cell walls at high speeds, instantly generating local high pressure, causing cell membrane rupture and releasing intracellular substances.

Actual cases include protein extraction from Escherichia coli, where ultrasound treatment only takes a few minutes to increase the extraction rate to over 90%, avoiding denaturation of thermosensitive proteins.

In materials science, ultrasonic fracturing is applied to the fragmentation of minerals or polymers. For example, when processing silicate mineral aggregates, ultrasound can break hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces, producing uniformly sized fine powders for ceramic or coating production. Specifically, in the preparation of new energy battery materials, crushing lithium ore aggregates to improve the efficiency of lithium ion extraction.

2. Extraction/Extraction: Promotes substance transfer and separation

Extraction and extraction functions enhance mass transfer based on cavitation effect. Shock waves and microjets accelerate the diffusion of solutes from the solid matrix to the solvent, while breaking the boundary layer and increasing the extraction rate.

This is particularly evident in the fields of traditional Chinese medicine and plant extraction. For example, when extracting polysaccharides from Ophiopogon japonicus, the traditional boiling method takes several hours and the extraction rate is only about 1%, while ultrasound assisted extraction can increase the extraction rate to 1.99% by disrupting cell walls and polysaccharide aggregation in just minutes.

Similarly, in the extraction of rose essential oil, ultrasound retains thermosensitive components such as volatile terpenes to avoid losses caused by high-temperature distillation, which is suitable for cosmetics and essence industries.

The application of the food industry includes the extraction of tea polyphenols and propolis flavonoids. Ultrasonic treatment can increase the dissolution rate by 30% to 50%, reduce the amount of organic solvents used, and promote green production.

Ultrasonic extraction is used for soil heavy metal separation in environmental remediation. For example, when dealing with lead contaminated soil, ultrasound enhances the penetration of chelating agents, increasing the extraction rate by 40%, which is suitable for soil remediation projects.

3. Emulsification: Stable mixing of immiscible phases

The emulsification function uses the interfacial activity of cavitation effect to promote the uniform mixing of oil and water and other immiscible liquids to form micron or nanometer lotion. This is widely used in chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

In the field of biopharmaceuticals, ultrasonic emulsification is used to prepare nano lotion coated hydrophobic drugs, such as the anticancer drug paclitaxel. Cavitation microjet reduces droplet size to below 100 nm, improves drug solubility and bioavailability, and achieves targeted drug delivery. Specifically, in the preparation of liposomes, ultrasound treatment of a mixture of phospholipids and drugs can increase emulsification efficiency by 2-3 times, and the product stability can last for several months.

Emulsification is used in the production of water-based coatings in chemical materials. For example, when emulsifying resins and pigments, ultrasound breaks the interfacial tension, forming a uniform dispersion system, and improving the adhesion and glossiness of the coating.

In addition, in food processing, ultrasonic emulsification is used for stabilizing mayonnaise or dairy products: cavitation effect for degassing and defoaming ensures that the product is bubble free and extends shelf life.

4. Dispersion: Uniformly distributed particle system

The dispersion function breaks the agglomeration force between particles through cavitation shock waves, achieving nanoscale uniform distribution, suitable for high viscosity or easily precipitated systems.

In the field of nanomaterials, dispersion is a crucial step. For example, in the preparation of new energy materials such as graphene, ultrasound (20-40 kHz) breaks the interlayer van der Waals forces, increases the deposition rate by 30%, improves purity, and reduces energy consumption by 40%. Specifically, for lithium battery electrode materials, dispersed carbon nanotubes aggregate to improve conductivity and increase battery capacity by 15%.

In electronic materials, high-frequency ultrasound (>100 kHz) disperses ferrite nanoparticles to prevent agglomeration and improve magnetic permeability, which is used in transformers and sensors. The application of pigment dispersion includes automotive paint and printing ink: cavitation micro jet breaks down organic pigment aggregates, improves coloring power and glossiness, and avoids color difference problems.

In environmental science, dispersion is used for wastewater treatment: ultrasonic treatment of activated carbon aggregates, improves adsorption efficiency, and removes heavy metal ions by more than 95%.

5. Other auxiliary functions: mixing and purification

In addition to the core functions mentioned above, ultrasonic instruments can also achieve stirring and purification. Stirring activates the surface through cavitation, accelerating the reaction, such as nickel powder catalyzed olefin hydrogenation, which increases the rate by 10 ^ 5 times. Purification utilizes separation effects, such as purifying crude polysaccharides from Ophiopogon japonicus and combining them with column chromatography to reduce residual proteins below the detection limit; In electroplating, ultrasound removes electrode impurities and increases the hardness of the coating by 20%.