Properties of the crossover from nonclassical to classical chemical kinetics in a reversible A+B<-->C reaction diffusion process.
We study the properties of the reaction front formed in a reversible reaction diffusion process A+B<-->C, with initially separated reactants. The case of the mobile C component is considered. In accordance with Chopard et al. [Phys. Rev. E 47, R40 (1993)] the dynamics of the front is described as a crossover between the "irreversible" regime at short times and the "reversible" regime at long times. A refined definition for the rate of C production is suggested, taking into account both the forward and the backward reaction rates. By this definition within the framework of the mean-field equations it is shown that the reversible regime is characterized by scaling of the local rate of C production as R(local) approximately t(-1) and by scaling of the global rate of C production as R(global) approximately t(-1/2). It is also established that in the considered special case of equal diffusion coefficients and equal initial concentrations, the macroscopic properties of the reaction front, such as the global rate of the C production R(global) and the concentration profiles of the components outside the front reaction, are unchanged through this crossover.
Sinder
M
M
Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel.
Pelleg
J
J