NEW EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS IN 2-DIMENSIONAL FRACTAL-LIKE, DENDRITIC AND PERIODIC GROWTH OF KCL IN DENSE MATRICES

Fractal-like, dendritic and periodic morphologies have been observed e xperimentally in thin films of KCl solution containing a denser matrix such as agar-agar or polyvinyl alcohol polymer. In the case of fracta l-like structures, calculated values of fractal dimensions are in good agreement with two-dimensional diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) mo del. A transition like behaviour from fractal type to dendritic growth with increase in KCl concentration has been observed. Dendritic form is always found to be favoured when KCl content is high in comparison to the case when KCl content is low. In the case of dendritic growth, length of the crystal (d) increases linearly with time (t) obeying the equation d = mt + C, where the values of slope (m) and the intercept (C) depend on electrolyte concentration. In the case of periodic growt h patterns, band locations (Xn) have been plotted as a function of ban d number n and the plots obey the simple relation Xn = mn + C where th e values of slope m and the intercept C depend on experimental conditi ons.