title: Convection-Induced Fingering Fronts in the Chlorite-Trithionate Reaction.
abstract: Based upon a former study, the chlorite-trithionate reaction can avoid the side reactions arising from the well-known alkaline decomposition of polythionates, making it a suitable candidate for investigating spatial front instabilities in a reaction-diffusion-convection system. In this work, the chlorite-trithionate reaction was investigated in a Hele-Shaw cell, in which fingering patterns were observed over a wide range of reactant concentrations. A significant density increment crossing the propagating front indicates that the fingering pattern is generated as a consequence of the buoyancy-driven instability due to the density changes of solute when the gap thickness is less than 4 mm. The velocity of the steepest descent in the propagating front depends almost linearly on the gap thickness but displays a saturation-like profile on the trithionate concentration as well as a maximum on the chlorite concentration. Numerical simulation using the Stokes-Brinkman Equation coupled to the reaction-diffusion processes, including hydrogen ion autocatalysis and consumption, reproduces the observed fingering fronts.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology , Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology , Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenxiu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology , Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology , Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology , Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qingyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology , Xuzhou 221116, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Changwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Pécs , Ifjúság útja 6., H-7624 Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Attila K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Horváth