In nature, there are similar periodic structures that follow certain rules, such as patterns of jewelry such as agate and arrangements of planets in the solar system.This is due to the "Liesegang phenomenon" (a phenomenon that forms a periodic structure in which intervals change at regular intervals) discovered in 1896, but the existing models that explain this phenomenon can only be applied to specific chemical reactions. There was a restriction.This time, a research group at Yamagata University proposed an innovative chemical model that eliminates the restrictions of the old model.
The Liesegang phenomenon, which was discovered in 1896 using a sparingly soluble salt, had two restrictions: it was observed only in substances that are poorly soluble in water, and it was observed only in reactions involving crystal precipitation from molecules.Therefore, it was difficult to extend it to other chemical reactions, biological reactions, geological reactions, and the like.
Under such circumstances, the research group succeeded in expressing the Liesegang phenomenon in chemical reaction products other than sparingly soluble salts in 2014, and announced a model in which one of the two constraints was removed. rice field.This time, he said that he discovered a chemical reaction system that relaxes another constraint and expresses the Liesegang phenomenon even though it does not meet the two constraints of the old model.
This discovery is expected to bring us closer to the construction of a unified model that unravels the mysteries of various Liesegang-type structures in nature.
Paper information: [The Journal of Physical Chemistry B] Liesegang Mechanism with a Gradual Phase Transition
