Controlling Cavitation for the Activation of Small Molecules

Sonochemistry is the use of ultrasound to facilitate chemical reactions. Chemical reactions requiring stringent conditions can be effectively carried out using sonochemistry at ambient conditions. The current state of sonochemistry is limited by the low efficiencies in converting electrical energy to cavitation energy for free radical generation. This makes the application of ultrasound for chemical synthesis an expensive technique in terms of energy per productivity. Controlling cavitation with novel catalytic cavitation agents (CCA) to reduce energy requirement for inertial cavitation will open a new paradigm for sonochemistry, potentially impacting the catalytic chemistry, acoustic and sonochemistry communities and opening opportunities to address challenges faced by chemists in sustainable chemicals synthesis. The objective of my project is to systematically progress towards deep understanding of cavitation bubbles generation through in-situ observation approaches, engineering of multifunctional catalytic cavitation agents and machine learning. This will exert better control on the formation, uniformity and collapse location of cavitation bubbles thereby significantly reducing acoustic energy requirement for inertial cavitation. I will synthesize multifunctional transition metal oxides catalytic cavitation agents, investigate and optimize their structure/properties relationships in response to acoustic cavitation. This project offers a unique integration of approaches, competences and resources in material science (synthesis of CCAs), physics (modelling) and chemistry (activation of small molecules). The iterative project focus on the most fundamental understanding of the physical mechanisms, will allow for substantial progresses into the complex phenomenon of sonochemistry and sonocatalysis.