The Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction, a self-organized oscillatory color-changing reaction, can show complex behavior when left unstirred in a closed cuvette environment. The most intriguing behavior is the transition from periodicity to chaos and back to periodicity as the system evolves in time. It was discovered that this complex behavior is due to the decoupling of reaction, diffusion and convection [1]. We have recently discovered that, as the so-called chaotic transient takes place, periodic bulk motions like convective rolls are visible in the reaction solution.
In this work we investigated this phenomenon experimentally by changing cuvette size and dimension to allow different types of convection patterns to appear. So far, we have observed single and double convection rolls in the system. The above-described experimental observations are supported by a numerical investigation of the underlying reaction-convection-diffusion equations that govern the behavior of the system. The connection between the periodic bulk motion and the local chaotic color change is still under investigation.
References
[1] N. Marchettini, M. A. Budroni, F. Rossi, M. Masia, M. L. T. Liveri, M. Rustici
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 12 (2010), 11062–11069.