Pattern Formation in the Bromate-Sulfite-Ferrocyanide Reaction

Abstract

Mixed Landolt-type pH oscillators are versatile systems that allow the experimental study of a wide range of nonlinear phenomena including multistability, oscillations, and spatiotemporal patterns. We report on the dynamics of the bromate-sulfite-ferrocyanide reaction operated in a open one-side-fed reactor, where spatial bistability, spatiotemporal oscillations, front and Turing-type patterns have been observed. The role of different experimental parameters, like the input flow concentrations of the hydrogen and the ferrocyanide ions, the temperature and the thickness of the gel medium (which affects the rate of the diffusive feed) have been investigated. We point out that all these parameters can be efficiently used to control the spatiotemporal dynamics. We show that the increase of ionic strength stabilizes the uniform states at the expense of the patterned one. Some general aspects of the spatiotemporal dynamics of mixed Landolt type systems, which are based on the oxidation of sulfite ions by strong oxidants, are emphasized.