Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Chemistry

Committee Chair

Kenneth Showalter

Committee Member

Terry Gullion

Committee Member

Adam Halasz

Committee Member

Justin Legleiter

Committee Member

Mark Tinsley

Abstract

A Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) droplet that is immersed in an oil-phase can self-propel due to a surface tension gradient that exists on the droplet surface. The surface tension gradient is created as a result of the reactions that occur within and on the surface of the BZ droplet. By affecting the rates of these reactions, the BZ droplet direction can be controlled. In our experiments, we tune the reactions that occur within and on the BZ droplet surface by imposing a light intensity gradient on the droplet. We analyzed the BZ droplet motion and demonstrated that we can control the droplet directionality. We also demonstrated that the shape of the light intensity gradient imposed on the BZ droplet plays a role in controlling the directionality of the BZ droplet motion. Turbulence-like patterns are characterized by chaotic dynamics in time and space. This behavior has been observed in unstirred BZ solutions. In this study, we show that turbulence-like patterns can form in the AlCl3/NaOH system. The patterns in this system form through precipitation and redissolution reactions. We utilized techniques such as the spatial correlation function, sink or source identification techniques, and the velocity angles statistics of the propagating precipitation waves to characterize the patterns formed in this system.

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