Cavitation-induced reactions in high-pressure carbon dioxide.

The feasibility of ultrasound-induced in situ radical formation in liquid carbon dioxide was demonstrated. The required threshold pressure for cavitation could be exceeded at a relatively low acoustic intensity, as the high vapor pressure of CO2 counteracts the hydrostatic pressure. With the use of a dynamic bubble model, the formation of hot spots upon bubble collapse was predicted. Cavitation-induced radical formation was used for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate in CO2, yielding high-molecular-weight polymers. These results show that sonochemical reactions can be performed in dense-phase fluids, which allows the environmentally benign CO2 to replace conventional organic solvents in many reaction systems.