Sonoelectrochemical synthesis of nanoparticles.

This article reviews the nanomaterials that have been prepared to date by pulsed sonoelectrochemistry. The majority of nanomaterials produced by this method are pure metals such as silver, palladium, platinum, zinc, nickel and gold, but more recently the syntheses have been extended to include the preparation of nanosized metallic alloys and metal oxide semiconductors. A major advantage of this methodology is that the shape andsize of the nanoparticles can be adjusted by varying the operating parameters which include ultrasonic power, current density, deposition potential and the ultrasonic vs electrochemical pulse times. Together with these, it is also possible to adjust the pH, temperature and composition of the electrolyte in the sonoelectrochemistry cell.