EFFECT OF OXYGEN ON WAVE-PROPAGATION IN THE FERROIN-CATALYZED BELOUSOV-ZHABOTINSKY REACTION

An experimental investigation of the propagation of reaction-diffusion waves in thin layers of solution for the ferroin-catalysed Belousov-Z habotinsky reaction is reported. It is shown that for layers of 1.5 mm or greater depth, there are no significant effects of oxygen on the w ave speed, but that for more shallow layers the waves are sensitive to the presence of O-2 in the gas phase above the solution and also to t he concentration of malonic acid in the solution. Waves in solutions u nder N-2 or solutions covered with a perspex lid show effectively no d epth effects. Dispersion relationships, the dependence of the wave spe ed on wavelength, are determined and tested against a recently propose d 'universal form'. Direct imaging of the waves shows that in the pres ence of O-2, there is no wave propagation in the top 0.4 mm of solutio n, independent of the solution depth.