Lead titanate Subject

The main part of the converter is a lead zirconate titanate electrostrictive element that expands and contracts when subjected to alternating voltage (Portiansky and Gimeno, 1996). The converter vibrates in a longitudinal direction and conveys this motion to the hom tip immersed in the solution, resulting in the implosion of microscopic cavities in the solution. The implosion causes the molecules in the solution to become exceedingly agitated. This phenomenon is explained below. 

Any type of acoustic transducer, such as quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) or surface acoustic wave device (SAW), is fundamentally based on the piezoelectric effect. This was first described in 1880 by Jacques and Pierre Curie as a property of crystalline materials that do not have an inversion centre. When such a material is subjected to physical stress, a measurable voltage occurs on the crystal surfaces. Naturally, the opposite effect can also be observed, i.e. applying an electrical charge on a piezoelectric material leads to mechanical distortion, the so-called inverse piezo effect. These phenomena can be used to transfrom an electrical signal to a mechanical one and back, which actually happens in QCM and SAW. Different materials are ap-pHed for device fabrication, such as quartz, Hthium tantalate, lithium titanate... 

Ultrasonication involves the conversion of a conventional 50 / 60 Hz alternating-current line power to 20 kHz electrical energy and transformation to mechanical vibration. A lead zirconate titanate electrostrictive (piezoelectric) crystal, when subjected to alternating voltage, expands and contracts. This transducer vibrates longitudinally and transmits this motion to the horn tip. The horn tip is immersed in the liquid slurry and cavitation... 

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