Lateral instability controlled by constant electric field in an acid-catalyzed reaction

Abstract

We have investigated the effect of externally applied constant electric field on the pattern formation in the acid-catalyzed chlorite–tetrathionate reaction. Using electric field separating the reactant anions and the autocatalyst cation, lateral instability can be induced while planar fronts can be stabilized with the electric field in the opposite orientation. A three-variable model describes the behavior of the system and the results are in good agreement with the experiments. Linear stability analysis has also been carried out to determine the onset of instability, and the simulations predict that the average wavelength does not vary significantly with increasing the separation of ions.