Potential use of ultrasound in chemical monitoring

The objective of this study was to examine the potential of combining sonication with other technologies for monitoring specific classes of organic pollutants in water. The research specifically addressed using ultrasonic processors to decompose organochlorine compounds into ions which could be detected using a specific ion electrode as a screening method for organochlorine pollutants. Changes in chloride, conductivity, and pH were measured using commercially available equipment before and after sonication in order to detect the presence of the organochlorine pollutant. Chloride ion could be detected in aqueous solutions of low ppm concentrations of carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and trichloroethylene after one minute sonication. The increases of Cl{dollar}\sp-{dollar} were accompanied by increases in conductivity and decreases of pH. Ion chromatography of solutions before and after sonication showed that formate ion was also formed. Aromatic and polyaromatic chloro compounds represented by chlorobenzene and polychlorobiphenyls, respectively, did not form chloride ion as readily as did carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and trichloroethylene. The results achieved with the organochlorine compounds tested serve as proof-of-principle and form a base of information which can be used to develop ultrasound monitoring methods for these compounds. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemistry

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1993

Author dc:creator

• Orzechowska, Grazyna Elzbieta

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/330

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1329