TINY bubbles will drive chemical reactions in liquid carbon dioxide. The finding boosts hopes that the compound could replace the toxic organic solvents used in industry.
Ultrasound creates minute bubbles within a liquid. When the bubbles collapse, they generate extremely high temperatures and pressures. This can drive chemical reactions such as polymerisation, which is vital for making plastics.
It was believed that the high pressures needed to keep the carbon dioxide in a liquid state stopped the bubbles from forming. But Jos Keurentjes and his colleagues at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have shown that the bubbles do form after all.
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