This article will begin with an introduction to acoustic cavitation, the physical phenomenon responsible for the chemical effects of ultrasound. Some recent applications of sonochemistry to the synthesis of nanophase and amorphous metals, as well as to heterogenous catalysis, will then be highlighted. Finally, we will examine the effects of ultrasound on metal powders in liquid-solid slurries.

The chemical effects of ultrasound do not come from a direct interaction of sound with molecular species. Ultrasound has frequencies from around 15 kilohertz to tens of megahertz. In liquids, this means wavelengths from centimeters down to microns, which are not molecular dimensions. Instead, when sound passes through a liquid, the formation, growth, and implosive collapse of bubbles can occur, as depicted in Figure 1. This process is called acoustic cavitation.

More specifically, sound passing through a liquid consists of expansion waves and compression waves. As sound passes through a liquid, if the expansion wave is intense enough (that is, if the sound is loud enough), it can pull the liquid apart and form a bubble (a cavity). The compression wave comes along and compresses this cavity, then another expansion wave re-expands it. So we have an oscillating bubble going back and forth, say, 20,000 times a second.