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Tunable diffusive lateral inhibition in chemical cells

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Abstract

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction has become the prototype of nonlinear chemical dynamics. Microfluidic techniques provide a convenient method for emulsifying BZ solutions into monodispersed drops with diameters of tens to hundreds of microns, providing a unique system in which reaction-diffusion theory can be quantitatively tested. In this work, we investigate monolayers of microfluidically generated BZ drops confined in close-packed two-dimensional (2D) arrays through experiments and finite element simulations. We describe the transition from oscillatory to stationary chemical states with increasing coupling strength, controlled by independently varying the reaction chemistry within a drop and diffusive flux between drops. For stationary drops, we studied how the ratio of stationary oxidized to stationary reduced drops varies with coupling strength. In addition, using simulation, we quantified the chemical heterogeneity sufficient to induce mixed stationary and oscillatory patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Brandeis University, 02454, Waltham, MA, USA

    Ning Li, Nathan Tompkins, Hector Gonzalez-Ochoa & Seth Fraden

  2. Department of Applied Mathematics, IPICYT, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

    Hector Gonzalez-Ochoa

Authors
  1. Ning Li
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  2. Nathan Tompkins
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  3. Hector Gonzalez-Ochoa
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  4. Seth Fraden
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Correspondence to Seth Fraden.

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Li, N., Tompkins, N., Gonzalez-Ochoa, H. et al. Tunable diffusive lateral inhibition in chemical cells. Eur. Phys. J. E 38, 18 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2015-15018-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2015-15018-3

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