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Sonication
 
 
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Sonication-is the act of applying sound (usually ultrasound
Ultrasound

Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing . Although this limit varies from person to person, it is approximately 20 Hertz in healthy, young adults and thus, 20 kHz serves as a useful lower limit in describing ultrasound....
) energy to agitate particles in a sample, for various purposes. In the laboratory, it is usually applied using an ultrasonic bath or an ultrasonic probe, colloquially known as a sonicator. In a paper machine, an ultrasonic foil can distribute cellulose fibres more uniformly and strengthen the paper.

Sonication can be used to speed dissolution, by breaking intermolecular interactions.






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Sonication-is the act of applying sound (usually ultrasound
Ultrasound

Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing . Although this limit varies from person to person, it is approximately 20 Hertz in healthy, young adults and thus, 20 kHz serves as a useful lower limit in describing ultrasound....
) energy to agitate particles in a sample, for various purposes. In the laboratory, it is usually applied using an ultrasonic bath or an ultrasonic probe, colloquially known as a sonicator. In a paper machine, an ultrasonic foil can distribute cellulose fibres more uniformly and strengthen the paper.

Sonication can be used to speed dissolution, by breaking intermolecular interactions. It is especially useful when it is not possible to stir the sample, as with NMR tube
NMR tube

An NMR tube is a thin glass walled tube used to contain samples in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Typically NMR tubes come in 5 mm diameters but 10 mm and 3mm samples are known....
s. It may also be used to provide the energy for certain chemical reactions to proceed. Sonication can be used to remove dissolved gases from liquids (degassing) by sonicating the liquid while it is under a vacuum. This is an alternative to the freeze-pump-thaw and sparging
Sparging

The term sparging may mean:*Lautering#Sparging, a process used in brewing beer.*Vegetable fats and oils#Sparging, a process used in edible oils...
 methods.

In biological applications, sonication may be sufficient to disrupt or deactivate a biological material. For example, sonication is often used to disrupt cell membranes
Cell disruption

Cell disruption is a method or process for releasing biological molecules from inside a cell....
 and release cellular contents. This process is called sonoporation
Sonoporation

Sonoporation, or cellular sonication, is the use of sound for modifying the permeability of the cell membrane. This technique is usually used in molecular biology and non-viral gene therapy in order to allow uptake of large molecules such as DNA into the cell, in a cell disruption process called transfection or transformation....
.

Sonication can also be used to initiate crystallisation processes and even control polymorphic crystallisations. Sonication be used to intervene in anti-solvent precipitations (crystallisation) to aid mixing and isolate small crystals.

Sonication can also loosen particles adhering to the wall of a vessel. Therefore it can be used as a cleaning step, easier than scraping them off with a spatula
Spatula

A turner , or fish slice, is a kitchen utensil with a long handle and a broad flat edge, used for lifting fried foods. Though the word Spatula is used in British English, it refers solely to a mixing and spreading implement....
. Outside the field of laboratory science, sonicating baths are used to clean objects such as spectacles and jewelry.

Sonication is also used to extract microfossils from rock.

Sonication can also refer to buzz pollination
Buzz pollination

Sonication or buzz pollination is a technique used by some bees to release pollen which is more or less firmly held by the anthers, which makes pollination more efficient....
 - the process that bees use to shake pollen
Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of Gametophyte , which produce the male gametes of spermatophyta. A hard coat covering the pollen grain protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement between the stamens of the flower to the pistil of the next flower....
 from flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s by vibrating their wing muscles.

See also

  • Sonochemistry
    Sonochemistry

    In chemistry, the study of sonochemistry is concerned with understanding the effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems. The chemical effects of ultrasound do not come from a...
  • Ultrasonic cleaning
    Ultrasonic cleaning

    An ultrasonic cleaner, often colloquially referred to as a sonicator, is a cleaning device that uses ultrasound and an appropriate cleaning solution to clean delicate items....
  • Sonoporation
    Sonoporation

    Sonoporation, or cellular sonication, is the use of sound for modifying the permeability of the cell membrane. This technique is usually used in molecular biology and non-viral gene therapy in order to allow uptake of large molecules such as DNA into the cell, in a cell disruption process called transfection or transformation....