Temporal and Spatial Organization of Chemical and Hydrodynamic Processes. The System Pb2+−Chlorite−Thiourea

Abstract

Precise spatio-temporal organization of chemical, hydrodynamic, and mechanical processes is typical for biological systems where particular chemical reactions have to accrue in precisely assignment place and time. It is rarely studied and observed in chemical systems. We report unusual precipitation pattern formation of PbSO(4) in chemical media (Pb(2+)-Chlorite-Thiourea System). We have found that there is a region in a plane of initial concentrations of chlorite ions and thiourea where precipitation of lead sulfate appears in a form of ring if a pellet of lead nitrate is placed into the system. The whole process may be divided into three stages: movement of first circular front of lead containing solution, formation of a ringlike pattern of lead sulfate, and finally, propagation of this pattern resulting in a formation of ring with final inside diameter. Our experiments indicate that the following values are reproducible and quantify the PbSO(4) ring evolution: induction time, radius of the ring birth, speed of ring propagation toward the center, and final inside radius of the ring. Numerical solution of kinetic equations allowed us to give a qualitative explanation for the phenomenon observed. Formation and evolution of the PbSO(4) rings are caused by interplay of concentration gradients in the system and chemical reactions that occur in excitable chlorite-thiourea system. Chemical reactions and hydrodynamic processes form a complex causal network that made morphogenesis of this unusual pattern possible.