Mechanism and application of ultrasound-enhanced bacteriostasis

Based on the extensive application of ultrasonic wave in bacteriostasis, focusing on the synergy of ultrasound, this article describes in detail the latest research progress on ultrasound-enhanced bacteriostasis methods, such as ultrasound-enhanced antibiotics, ultrasound-enhanced nanomaterials, ultrasound-enhanced ozone, ultrasound-enhanced microbubbles, ultrasound-enhanced sonosensitizers, ultrasound-enhanced laser, and ultrasound-enhanced ultraviolet, etc. Besides, mechanisms of each method are analyzed, and the existing problems in ultrasound-enhanced bacteriostasis are pointed out. It is found that (a)the bacteriostasis of US combined with other technologies is still in the stage of laboratory test, the experimental processing capacity is small and can not be applied in a large scale, which hinders the development of the technology; (b)when using ultrasonic alone, the bacteriostasis rate often fails to meet the regulatory requirements, and the control factors are numerous and complicated. If the sound intensity is increased, it will cause a waste of energy and loss of equipment although it can raise the bacteriostasis rate; (c)currently, the application of US bacteriostasis is ahead of the mechanism research, and laboratory research is aimed at a certain kind of bacteria. The bacteriostasis effect for many kinds of microorganisms in actual sewage is still unclear, and there is no mature theory. The purpose is to provide a reference for ultrasound-enhanced bacteriostasis methods to be widely used in synergistic bacteriostasis.