Influence of microscopic precipitate structures on macroscopic pattern formation in reactive flows in a confined geometry

Abstract

Thanks to the coupling between chemical precipitation reactions and hydrodynamics, new dynamic phenomena may be obtained and new types of materials can be synthesized. Here we experimentally investigate how the characteristic microscopic crystal properties affect the macroscopic pattern obtained. To shed light on such interactions, different reactant solutions are radially injected into a calcium chloride solution at different volumetric flow rates in a confined geometry. Depending on the reactants used and the flow conditions, deformed precipitate membranes have been observed due to reaction-driven viscous fingering. In such cases we show that upon injection a large number of small particles is produced in situ by the reaction at the miscible interface between the two reactant solutions. Therefore, a colloidal gel composed of those tiny particles is pushed forward by the injected aqueous solution giving rise to a viscosity gradient-driven hydrodynamic instability.