Dear Hazel Anne,

I believe the answer to your question is something you need to look for on your own.

You need to consider the following factors:

1. Specific energy. In my case (obtaining polymer nanoparticles) it was equal to about 1 J/cm3

for volumes under 100 ml.

2. Processing time. This is the minimum time in which you can get an acceptable reproducible result. The approximate time can be determined from literature and/or experience. Always check the literature data on your sample.

3. Processing Mode. Mode selection is important when you have labile samples or have limitations on the heating temperature of the media. Pulse/still mode is a good choice. You can do as you please. The option of equal pulse/still time is usually acceptable. If more cooling time is needed, it is better to process in several stages with a pause of suitable time between sonication cycles.

Additional:

a) You need a method to control the result. By taking samples at equal or different time intervals, you will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. For nanoparticles, DLS may be a suitable method. You can dilute the sample prior to testing if necessary. Sometimes simpler optical methods are suitable, e.g. determination of optical absorbance at a suitable wavelength (UV/visible).

Sometimes more demanding methods, such as electron microscopy for each sample, may be required.

b) Selecting treatment conditions can be time consuming, but it is worth it. It makes sense to build three-way diagrams, e.g. "energy-sample-volume-time" to analyze the results and find the best solutions. It is up to you to select the appropriate factors for such diagrams. The method is old but effective.

I hope this proves to be helpful.

Wishing you good luck and quality results,

Yuri