Study on the bubble transport mechanism in an acoustic standing wave field

The use of bubbles in applications such as surface chemistry, drug delivery, and ultrasonic cleaning etc. has been enormously popular in the past two decades. It has been recognized that acoustically-driven bubbles can be used to disturb the flow field near a boundary in order to accelerate physical or chemical reactions on the surface. The interactions between bubbles and a surface have been studied experimentally and analytically. However, most of the investigations focused on violently oscillating bubbles (also known as cavitation bubble), less attention has been given to understand the interactions between moderately oscillating bubbles and a boundary. Moreover, cavitation bubbles were normally generated in situ by a high intensity laser beam, little experimental work has been carried out to study the translational trajectory of a moderately oscillating bubble in an acoustic field and subsequent interactions with the surface. This paper describes the design of an ultrasonic test cell and explores the mechanism of bubble manipulation within the test cell. The test cell consists of a transducer, a liquid medium and a glass backing plate. The acoustic field within the multi-layered stack was designed in such a way that it was effectively one dimensional. This was then successfully simulated by a one dimensional network model. The model can accurately predict the impedance of the test cell as well as the mode shape (distribution of particle velocity and stress/pressure field) within the whole assembly. The mode shape of the stack was designed so that bubbles can be pushed from their injection point onto a backing glass plate. Bubble radial oscillation was simulated by a modified Keller–Miksis equation and bubble translational motion was derived from an equation obtained by applying Newton’s second law to a bubble in a liquid medium. Results indicated that the bubble trajectory depends on the acoustic pressure amplitude and initial bubble size: an increase of pressure amplitude or a decrease of bubble size forces bubbles larger than their resonant size to arrive at the target plate at lower heights, while the trajectories of smaller bubbles are less influenced by these factors. The test cell is also suitable for testing the effects of drag force on the bubble motion and for studying the bubble behavior near a surface.     

Cancellation of acoustic scattering from an elastic sphere

Recent research has suggested the possibility of creating acoustic cloaks using metamaterial layers to eliminate the acoustic field scattered from an elastic object. This paper explores the possibility of applying the scattering cancellation cloaking technique to acoustic waves and the use of this method to investigate its effectiveness in cloaking elastic and fluid spheres using only a single isotropic elastic layer. Parametric studies showing the influence of cloak stiffness and geometry on the frequency dependent scattering cross-section of spheres have been developed to explore the design space of the cloaking layer. This analysis shows that an appropriately designed single isotropic elastic cloaking layer can provide up to 30 dB of scattering reduction for ka values up to 1.6. This work also illustrates the importance of accounting for the elasticity of the object and the relevant limitations of simplistic quasi-static analyses proposed in recent papers.     

Characterization of an acoustic cavitation bubble structure at 230 kHz

A generic bubble structure in a 230 kHz ultrasonic field is observed in a partly developed standing wave field in water. It is characterized by high-speed imaging, sonoluminescence recordings, and surface cleaning tests. The structure has two distinct bubble populations. Bigger bubbles (much larger than linear resonance size) group on rings in planes parallel to the transducer surface, apparently in locations of driving pressure minima. They slowly rise in a jittering, but synchronous way, and they can have smaller satellite bubbles, thus resembling the arrays of bubbles observed by Miller [D. Miller, Stable arrays of resonant bubbles in a 1-MHz standing-wave acoustic field, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62 (1977) 12]. Smaller bubbles (below and near linear resonance size) show a fast "streamer" motion perpendicular to and away from the transducer surface. While the bigger bubbles do not emit light, the smaller bubbles in the streamers show sonoluminescence when they pass the planes of high driving pressure. Both bubble populations exhibit cleaning potential with respect to micro-particles attached to a glass substrate. The respective mechanisms of particle removal, though, might be different.     

Nanosized aerosols from consumer sprays: experimental analysis and exposure modeling for four commercial products

Consumer spray products are already on the market in the cosmetics and household sector, which suggest by their label that they contain engineered nanoparticles (ENP). Sprays are considered critical for human health, because the lungs represent a major route for the uptake of ENP into the human body. To contribute to the exposure assessment of ENP in consumer spray products, we analyzed ENP in four commercially available sprays: one antiperspirant, two shoe impregnation sprays, and one plant-strengthening agent. The spray dispersions were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and (scanning-) transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM). Aerosols were generated by using the original vessels, and analyzed by scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and (S)TEM. On the basis of SMPS results, the nanosized aerosol depositing in the respiratory tract was modeled for female and male consumers. The derived exposure levels reflect a single spray application. We identified ENP in the dispersions of two products (shoe impregnation and plant spray). Nanosized aerosols were observed in three products that contained propellant gas. The aerosol number concentration increased linearly with the sprayed amount, with the highest concentration resulting from the antiperspirant. Modeled aerosol exposure levels were in the range of 10¹⁰ nanosized aerosol components per person and application event for the antiperspirant and the impregnation sprays, with the largest fraction of nanosized aerosol depositing in the alveolar region. Negligible exposure from the application of the plant spray (pump spray) was observed.     

Colloidal nanocrystal ZnO- and TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-modified electrodes sensitized with chlorophyll a and carotenoids: a photoelectrochemical study

Heterostructures formed of films of organic-capped ZnO and TiO₂ nanocrystals (both with the size of ca. 6 nm) and photosynthetic pigments were prepared and characterized. The surface of optically transparent electrodes (Indium Tin Oxide) was modified with nanocrystals and prepared by colloidal synthetic routes. The nanostructured electrodes were sensitized by a mixture of chlorophyll a and carotenoids. The characterization of the hybrid structures, carried out by means of steady-state optical measurements, demonstrated such class of dyes able to extend the photoresponse of the large band-gap semiconductors. The charge-transfer processes between the components of the heterojunction were investigated, and photoelectrochemical measurements taken on the sensitized ZnO and TiO₂ nanocrystals electrodes elucidated the photoactivity of the heterojunctions as a function of the dyes and of the red–ox mediator used in solution. The effect of methyl viologen as different red–ox mediator was also evaluated in order to show its effect on the heterojunction photoactivity. The overall results contributed to describe the photoelectrochemical potential of the investigated heterojunctions, highlighting a higher response of the dye-sensitized ZnO nanocrystals, and then provided the TiO₂-modified counterparts.     

Public understanding of science and the perception of nanotechnology: the roles of interest in science,methodological knowledge,epistemological beliefs,and beliefs about science

In this article, we report data from an online questionnaire study with 587 respondents, representative for the adult U.S. population in terms of age, gender, and level of education. The aim of this study was to assess how interest in science and knowledge as well as beliefs about science are associated with risk and benefit perceptions of nanotechnology. The findings suggest that the U.S. public is still rather unfamiliar with nanotechnology. Those who have some knowledge mainly have gotten it from TV and the Internet. The content of current media reports is perceived as fairly positive. Knowledge of scientific methods is unrelated to benefit and risk perceptions, at least when other predictors are controlled. In contrast, positive beliefs about science (e.g., its impact on economy or health) and more sophisticated epistemological beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge are moderately linked to more positive perceptions of nanotechnology. The only exception is the perception of scientific uncertainty: This is associated with less positive evaluations. Finally, higher engagement with science is associated with higher risk perceptions. These findings show that laypersons who are engaged with science and who are aware of the inherent uncertainty of scientific evidence might perceive nanotechnology in a somewhat more differentiated way, contrary to how it is portrayed in the media today.     

Observation and theoretical description of periodic geometric rearrangement in electronically excited nonstoichiometric sodium-fluoride clusters

We present two-color fs pump-probe spectra of Na2F which were recorded by employing excitation wavelengths around 1208 nm (pump) and ionization wavelengths around 405 nm (probe). The observed oscillatory structure of the signal with a period of 185 fs shows an excellent agreement with our simulated spectra. The employed ab initio Wigner distribution approach provides clear evidence that this observation is caused by photoinduced metal bond breaking followed by a butterfly-type periodic geometric rearrangement.     

Random packings of frictionless particles

We conduct numerical simulations of random packings of frictionless particles at T = 0. The packing fraction where the pressure becomes nonzero is the same as the jamming threshold, where the static shear modulus becomes nonzero. The distribution of threshold packing fractions narrows, and its peak approaches random close packing as the system size increases. For packing fractions within the peak, there is no self-averaging, leading to exponential decay of the interparticle force distribution.     

Discrete negative refraction in photonic crystal waveguide arrays

We report a systematic analysis of anomalous refractive effects at interfaces between two photonic crystal waveguide arrays. Discrete negative refraction can be easily predicted from the sign of the coupling coefficient between adjacent waveguides, regardless of handedness of propagation.