GENERAL-MODEL FOR THE CHLORITE ION BASED CHEMICAL OSCILLATORS

A general scheme which may be regarded as the common core in the mecha nisms of the oscillatory chlorite ion-substrate reaction systems is su ggested. In the six-step model, reactions of the substrate with ClO2-, HOCl, and Cl2O2 and known reactions between the oxychlorine species a re involved. The general mechanism is capable of explaining the most e xotic phenomena encountered in the chlorite-substrate reactions, such as the autocatalysis in batch and the simple and complex oscillations and chaos under flow conditions. Extention of the general model with m ore reactions makes it possible to account for bistability and batch o scillations as well. The skeleton mechanism proposed here may serve as a guide in describing and characterizing the chemical background and the dynamical behaviors of the individual chlorite-substrate systems, which field is-at present-still rather unexplored.