Chemo-Hydrodynamic Patterns and Instabilities

• Published in: Annual review of fluid mechanics Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 531 - 555
• Main Author: De Wit, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Annual Reviews 05-01-2020
• Subjects: buoyancy-driven instabilities; chemical fronts; chemo-hydrodynamics; double diffusion; Rayleigh-Taylor; reactive flows; viscous fingering
• ISSN: 0066-4189; 1545-4479
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev-fluid-010719-060349

By modifying a physical property of a solution like its density or viscosity, chemical reactions can modify and even trigger convective flows. These flows in turn affect the spatiotemporal distribution of the chemical species. A nontrivial coupling between reactions and flows then occurs. We present simple model systems of this chemo-hydrodynamic coupling. In particular, we illustrate the possibility of chemical reactions controlling or triggering viscous fingering, Rayleigh-Taylor, double-diffusive, and convective dissolution instabilities. We discuss laboratory experiments performed to study these phenomena and compare the experimental results to theoretical predictions. In each case we contrast the chemo-hydrodynamic patterns and instabilities with those that develop in nonreactive systems and unify the different dynamics in terms of the common features of the related spatial mobility profiles.