Forcing of Turing Patterns in the Chlorine Dioxide–Iodine–Malonic Acid Reaction with Strong Visible Light

Abstract

We investigate the sensitivity of Turing patterns in the chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction to illumination by strong white light. Intense illumination results in an increase of [I(-)], in contrast to previous studies, which found only decreased [I(-)] for weak and intermediate intensities of illumination. We propose an expanded mechanism to explain the experimental observations. Both experimental and numerical results suggest that [ClO2] is the key parameter that determines whether the high iodide state is obtained under strong illumination. When strong illumination is applied through a spatially periodic mask with black and white stripes, a dark state with high [I(-)] is produced in the illuminated domain and a light state with low [I(-)] forms in the nonilluminated domain. Depending on the black:white ratio of the mask and its wavelength, Turing patterns can coexist with either the light or the dark state in the nonilluminated domain.