Dynamical regime of resorcinol based Belousov–Zhabotinsky chemical oscillator in the presence or absence of some hydrophobic antioxidants in aqueous–organic mixed media

Abstract

This study aims to overcome the difficulty of using hydrophobic moieties like antioxidants, hormones, etc. in oscillatory chemical reactions due to existing solubility problems in aqueous acid media. Several new perturbants viz. hydrophobic antioxidants have been found to affect the oscillatory parameters under batch conditions in the resorcinol based Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillating system performed in aqueous–organic mixed media. The α-tocopherol, 4,4,4-trifluoro-3-methyl-2-butenoic acid, melatonin and β-carotene react with radicals either generated from BZ reagents or from the organic solvents and scavenge them. One to one interactions of these additives with resorcinol, bromate or Mn(II) ions have been investigated using cyclic voltammetry and potentiometry. These interactions may lead to a better understanding of their mechanism corresponding to their role in the BZ chemical oscillators. A comparative trend of these antioxidants was observed. It is noteworthy to mention here that radical based polymerization has been achieved using a specific solvent system containing monomers of that polymer and an interesting behavior oscillatory parameters was observed during polymer synthesis in situ.