Chemoconvection: A chemically induced hydrodynamic instability

Antonio J. Pons Rivero

Departament de Química Física, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Chemistry, H. C. Ørsted Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark


Preben Grå Sørensen

Department of Chemistry, H. C. Ørsted Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

F. Sagués

Departament de Química Física, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

M.A. Bees

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Surrey, Guilford, GU2 7XH, United Kingdom


Abstract: We describe theory and experiments concerning a chemical reaction, the alkaline oxidation of glucose with methylene blue as a catalyst, that is hypothesized to drive fluid motion via an overturning instability, as an example of 'chemoconvective' process. A theoretical model is developed to explain this phenomenon and linear analyses from steady and pseudosteady states are used to predict the basic length and times scales of the patterns which initially appear. These theoretical predictions, using kinetic parameters from recent independent experiments, are contrasted with the results from pattern initiation experiments. Preliminary comparisons indicate good qualitative and quantitative agreement.