Elucidate the impact of particulates on aqueous pollutant sonication

The potential inhibition of particulates on sonication of aqueous pollutants was investigated. Sonodegradation of bromobenzene, bromophenolate ion, and 2,4,5-trichlorobiphenyl were studied in the presence of various types of particulates suspended in water. Particulates of three different diameters (10 nm, 15 μm, and 35 μm) and two types (silica and polyaromatic resin) were investigated over a wide range of concentrations (0.05 g/L to 10 g/L). The results demonstrated that particulates inhibited sonication only when the target compound sorbed on the solid during sonication and could not partition into cavitation bubbles. The inhibition of the sorbed molecules was almost complete, and relatively independent of the particle concentration within certain ranges. However, the complexity of sonochemistry and particulate-solute matrices precludes a simple universal prediction of the inhibition extent.