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Chemical Education Today
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Letters
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Chemistry and Luminescence
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Pedro Cintas
Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain
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June 2005
Vol. 82 No. 6
p. 837
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| Full Text |
The article “Turning on the Light: Lessons from Luminescence” (1) offers a succinct, yet rigorous, treatment of the most relevant luminescent phenomena such as fluorescence and phosphorescence, or tribo-, chemi- and bioluminescence. The authors have, however, ignored a relevant and unique process: sonoluminescence, the weak emission of light flashes by bubbles in a liquid excited by sound (a pressure wave). Sonoluminescence was first reported in the early 1930s, although it was not considered important in that time (2). The phenomenon can be observed for both aqueous and non-aqueous liquids, and generally at ultrasonic frequencies (beyond 20 kHz). Sonoluminescence arises from cavitation, i.e. the formation, growth and collapse of microbubbles, which produces excited state species (3). Although both cavitation and sonoluminescence are complex and nonlinear phenomena, which have been the subject of mathematical models, common ultrasonic devices are convenient and inexpensive tools to detect their effects. Applications of ultrasound have been occasionally discussed through this Journal as a means of improving synthetic (4) or environmental (5) procedures and many readers could certainly benefit from this additional information. In addition, ultrasound can also enhance the well-known chemiluminescence derived from the oxidation of luminol (6). The experiment can easily be conducted in an ultrasonic bath, well suited for undergraduate courses.
Literature Cited
- O’Hara, P.; Engelson, C.; St. Peter, W. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 49.
- Frenzel, H.; Schultes, H. Z. Phys. Chem. 1934, B27, 421.
- (a) Crum, L. A.; Roy, R. A. Science 1994, 266, 233; (b) Brenner, M. P.; Lohse, D.; Dupont, T. F. Phys. Rev. Lett. 1995, 75, 954.
- Lash, T. D.; Berry, D. J. Chem. Educ. 1985, 62, 85.
- Wilmer, B. K.; Poziomek, E.; Orzechowska, G. E. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 1657.
- Mason, T. J. Practical Sonochemistry; Ellis Horwood: New York, 1991; p 65.
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| More Information |
 Citation |
Cintas, Pedro. J. Chem. Educ. 2005 82 837.
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Keywords |
Analytical Chemistry; Fluorescence Spectroscopy; Laboratory Instruction; Physical Chemistry
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History |
Created:
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April 27, 2005
May 6, 2005
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