Temperature-controlled cellular fronts

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the formation of cellular structures in reaction–diffusion fronts of the acid-catalyzed chlorite–tetrathionate reaction is studied experimentally. Our results confirm the predictions based on the simple model of the reaction: the time and length scales shorten with increasing temperature while the onset of instability is independent of temperature. In a systematic study the dispersion relation has been determined experimentally for the first time and the characteristics of the most unstable mode have been specified. In the range of 30–55 °C, the dominant cell size decreases significantly, which may facilitate the study of the reaction in a continuously fed unstirred reactor.