K J M Bishop | PubMed Health

PubMed2006

Localized chemical wave emission and mode switching in a patterned excitable medium.

Chemical waves are initiated from complex geometries in the excitable Belosouv-Zhabotinsky medium using a wet stamping technique. Because of the coupling between the system's chemical kinetics and geometry, waves are emitted only from selected locations. By varying the nature of the wave-triggering reagent (here formaldehyde or methanol), it is possible to switch between two spatially distinct modes of wave emission. The system's dynamics is studied numerically, and the results of modeling agree with experimental observations.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Microchameleons: nonlinear chemical microsystems for amplification and sensing.

In biological systems, the coupling of nonlinear biochemical kinetics and molecular transport enables functional sensing and "signal" amplification across many length scales. Drawing on biological inspiration, we describe how artificial reaction-diffusion (RD) microsystems can provide a basis for sensing applications, capable of amplifying micro- and nanoscopic events into macroscopic visual readouts. The RD applications reviewed here are based on a novel experimental technique, WETS for Wet Stamping, which offers unprecedented control over RD processes in microscopic and complex geometries. It is discussed how RD can be used to sense subtle differences in the thickness and/or absorptivity of thin absorptive films, amplify macromolecular phase transitions, detect the presence and quality of self-assembled monolayers, and provide dynamic spatiotemporal readouts of chemical "metabolites."

Absorption↗