The correlation between sonoluminescence and ultrasonic degradation (UD) efficiency of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was studied using 100, 400, and 1000 kHz ultrasonic transducers. The intensity of luminol luminescence was obtained from visualization of cavitation and sonication of PEG was measured using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The results showed that both the luminescence due to reactive radicals and the sonication of polymers were accelerated with increasing in applied voltage and the 400 kHz transducer was the highest efficient for the sonication of PEG. As a result, the luminescence was found to give an indication of optimization for polymer degradation.
