Carbon nanomaterials as broadband airborne ultrasound transducer

Abstract

A method has been developed for the generation of airborne ultrasound using the thermoacoustic principle applied to carbon materials at the micro- and nanoscale. Such materials are shown to be capable to emitting the ultrasound. We tested the acoustic performance of electrospun polyacrylonitrile-derived carbon nanofibers tissues and determined the sound pressure for frequencies up to 350 kHz. The experimental results are compared to analytic calculations. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.