Three-dimensional superdiffusive chemical waves in a precipitation system.

We report novel results on self-organized three-dimensional spiral and target patterns exhibiting anomalous superdiffusive behaviour in a reaction-diffusion system with simultaneous precipitation and polymorphic transformation of mercuric iodide without external forcing. The superdiffusive dynamics of propagation of the targets/spirals and their breakup are presented.

Fatty acid droplet self-division driven by a chemical reaction.

Division of a millimeter-sized and compartmentalized fatty acid droplet is triggered by a chemical pH clock reaction operating on the ten-second time scale. The autonomous pH change inside the compartment translates into the deprotonation of the fatty acid molecules, leading to a negative interfacial tension at the water-oil interface inside the droplet. This phenomenon induces the expansion of the droplet, which is followed by its division into daughter droplets governed by the Plateau-Rayleigh instability.

Coarsening of precipitation patterns in a moving reaction-diffusion front.

Precipitation patterns emerging in a two-dimensional moving front are investigated on the example of NaOH diffusing into a gel containing AlCl3 . The time evolution of the precipitate Al(OH)_{3} can be observed since the precipitate redissolves in the excess outer electrolyte NaOH and thus it exists only in a narrow optically accessible region of the reaction front. The patterns display self-similar coarsening with a characteristic length xi increasing with time as xi(t) approximately sqrt[t] . A theory based on the Cahn-Hilliard phase-separation dynamics, including redissolution, is shown to yield agreement with the experiments.

Designed patterns: flexible control of precipitation through electric currents.

Understanding and controlling precipitation patterns formed in reaction-diffusion processes is of fundamental importance with high potential for technical applications. Here we present a theory showing that precipitation resulting from reactions among charged agents can be controlled by an appropriately designed, time-dependent electric current. Examples of current dynamics yielding periodic bands of prescribed wavelength, as well as more complicated structures are given. The pattern control is demonstrated experimentally using the reaction-diffusion process 2AgNO3 + K2Cr2O7-->under Ag2Cr2O7 + 2KNO3.

Simulation of the dispersion of nuclear contamination using an adaptive Eulerian grid model.

Application of an Eulerian model using layered adaptive unstructured grids coupled to a meso-scale meteorological model is presented for modelling the dispersion of nuclear contamination following the accidental release from a single but strong source to the atmosphere. The model automatically places a finer resolution grid, adaptively in time, in regions were high spatial numerical error is expected. The high-resolution grid region follows the movement of the contaminated air over time. Using this method, grid resolutions of the order of 6 km can be achieved in a computationally effective way. The concept is illustrated by the simulation of hypothetical nuclear accidents at the Paks NPP, in Central Hungary. The paper demonstrates that the adaptive model can achieve accuracy comparable to that of a high-resolution Eulerian model using significantly less grid points and computer simulation time.