Interaction between buoyancy and diffusion-driven instabilities of propagating autocatalytic reaction fronts. II. Nonlinear simulations

Thermal and compositional driven convection in thin reaction fronts

Chemical reaction fronts separate regions of reacted and unreacted substances as they propagate in liquids. These fronts may induce density gradients due to different chemical compositions and temperatures across the front. In this paper, we investigate buoyancy-induced convection driven by both types of gradients. We consider a thin front approximation where the normal front velocity depends only on the front curvature. This model applies for small curvature fronts independent of the specific type of chemical reaction. For density changes due only to heat variations near the front, we find that convection can take place for either upward or downward propagating fronts if density gradients are above a threshold. Convection can set in even if the fluid with lower density is above the higher density fluid. Our model consists of Navier-Stokes equations coupled to the front propagation equation. We carry out a linear stability analysis to determine the parameters for the onset of convection. We study the nonlinear front propagation for liquids confined in narrow two-dimensional domains. Convection leads to fronts of steady shape, propagating with constant velocities.

Oscillatory instability in a reaction front separating fluids of different densities

Reaction fronts described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky (KS) equation can exhibit complex behavior as they separate reacted from unreacted fluids. If the fluid of higher density is above a fluid of lower density, then the Rayleigh-Taylor instability can lead to fluid motion. In the reverse situation, where the lighter fluid is on top, gravitationally driven forces can stabilize a convectionless flat front inhibiting the complex front propagation described by the KS equation. In these cases, a critical density difference is required to provide stability to the flat front. A linear stability analysis shows that the transition from stable to unstable flat fronts can be oscillatory for viscous fluid motion. Once the transition takes place, the fronts exhibit oscillatory convection resulting in oscillations of the shape and speed of the front.

Self-Assembly of Charged Nanoparticles by an Autocatalytic Reaction Front

In this work we present that aggregation of charged and pH sensitive nanoparticles can be spatiotemporally controlled by an autonomous way using the chlorite-tetrathionate autocatalytic front, where the front regulates the electrostatic interaction between nanoparticles due to protonation of the capping (carboxylate-terminated) ligand. We found that the aggregation and sedimentation of nanoparticles in liquid phase with the effect of reversible binding of the autocatalyst (H(+)) play important roles in changing the front stability (mixing length) and the velocity of the front in both cases when the fronts propagate upward and downward. Calculation of interparticle interactions (electrostatic and van der Waals) with the measurement of front velocity revealed that the aggregation process occurs fast (within a few seconds) at the front position.

Rayleigh-Taylor instability of steady fronts described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation

We study steady thin reaction fronts described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation that separates fluids of different densities. This system may lead to hydrodynamic instabilities as buoyancy forces interact with the propagating fronts in a two-dimensional slab. We use Darcy's law to describe the fluid motion in this geometry. Steady front profiles can be flat, axisymmetric, or nonaxisymmetric, depending on the slab width, the density gradient, and fluid viscosity. Unstable flat fronts can be stabilized having a density gradient with the less dense fluid on top of a denser fluid. We find the steady front solutions from the nonlinear equations executing a linear stability analysis to determine their stability. We show regions of bistability where stable nonaxisymmetric and axisymmetric fronts can coexist. We also consider the stability of steady solutions in large domains, which can be constructed by dividing the domain into smaller parts or cells.

Stability of fronts in the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation advected by a Poiseuille flow

We study reaction fronts described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation subject to a Poiseuille flow. The fronts propagate with or against the flow located inside a two-dimensional slab. Steady front profiles can be flat, axisymmetric, or nonaxisymmetric, depending on the gap between the plates and the average flow speed. We first obtain the steady front solutions, later executing a linear stability analysis to determine the stability of the fronts. Applying fluid flow can turn initially unstable fronts into stable fronts. Stable steady fronts propagating in the adverse direction of the Poiseuille flow are axisymmetric for slow fluid flows. However, for higher speeds an adverse flow can lead to stable nonaxisymmetric fronts. We also show regions of bistability where stable nonaxisymmetric and axisymmetric fronts can coexist.

Spatiotemporal chaos in the dynamics of buoyantly and diffusively unstable chemical fronts

Nonlinear dynamics resulting from the interplay between diffusive and buoyancy-driven Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities of autocatalytic traveling fronts are analyzed numerically for various values of the relevant parameters. These are the Rayleigh numbers of the reactant A and autocatalytic product B solutions as well as the ratio D=D(B)/D(A) between the diffusion coefficients of the two key chemical species. The interplay between the coarsening dynamics characteristic of the RT instability and the constant short wavelength modulation of the diffusive instability can lead in some regimes to complex dynamics dominated by irregular succession of birth and death of fingers. By using spectral entropy measurements, we characterize the transition between order and spatial disorder in this system. The analysis of the power spectrum and autocorrelation function, moreover, identifies similarities between the various spatial patterns. The contribution of the diffusive instability to the complex dynamics is discussed.

Convection in stable and unstable fronts

Density gradients across a reaction front can lead to convective fluid motion. Stable fronts require a heavier fluid on top of a lighter one to generate convective fluid motion. On the other hand, unstable fronts can be stabilized with an opposing density gradient, where the lighter fluid is on top. In this case, we can have a stable flat front without convection or a steady convective front of a given wavelength near the onset of convection. The fronts are described with the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation coupled to hydrodynamics governed by Darcy's law. We obtain a dispersion relation between growth rates and perturbation wave numbers in the presence of a density discontinuity accross the front. We also analyze the effects of this density change in the transition to chaos.

Interaction between buoyancy and diffusion-driven instabilities of propagating autocatalytic reaction fronts. I. Linear stability analysis

The interaction between buoyancy-driven and diffusion-driven instabilities that can develop along a propagating reaction front is discussed for a system based on an autocatalytic reaction. Twelve different cases are possible depending on whether the front is ascending or descending in the gravity field, whether the reactant is heavier or lighter than the products, and whether the reactant diffuses faster, slower, or at the same rate as the product. A linear stability analysis (LSA) is undertaken, in which dispersion curves (plots of the growth rate sigma against wave number k) are derived for representative cases as well as an asymptotic analysis for small wave numbers. The results from the LSA indicate that, when the initial reactant is denser than the reaction products, upward propagating fronts remain unstable with the diffusion-driven instability enhancing this instability. Buoyantly stable downward propagating fronts become unstable when the system is also diffusionally unstable. When the initial reactant is lighter than the reaction products, any diffusionally unstable upward propagating front is stabilized by small buoyancy effects. A diffusional instability enhances the buoyant instability of a downward propagating front with there being a very strong interaction between these effects in this case.