Coexistence of oscillatory and reduced states on a spherical field controlled by electrical potential

Abstract

The Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction was investigated to elucidate features of oscillations depending on the applied electrical potential, E. A cation-exchange resin bead loaded with the catalyst of the BZ reaction was placed on a platinum plate as a working electrode and then E was applied. We found that global oscillations (GO) and a reduced state coexisted on the bead at a negative value of E and that the source point of GO changed depending on E. The thickness of the reduced state was determined by a yellow colored region which corresponded to the distribution of Br2. The present studies suggest that the distribution of the inhibitor, Br−, which is produced from Br2, plays an important role in the existence of the reduced state and GO, and the source point of GO.