Thermodynamic analysis of Belousov–Zhabotinski systems with four or five independent variables

Abstract

This paper deals with a thermodynamic analysis of Belousov–Zhabotinski systems and similar ones with four or five independent variables, based on some experimental results obtained in our laboratory with a Rayleigh–Bénard cell. The new variable, never before considered in similar analyses is the relative extent of the chemical potential difference between two next layers in these Belousov–Zhabotinski systems. The mathematical approach shows some differences with regards to the traditional one. These analyses can be applied both to non-living and also to several cases of living systems. It is to be remarked that up to recent years, the researchers thought that the reactions, which take place in test-tubes and in the several laboratory vessels, could not show oscillations that are common in other fields of science. Consequently the oscillations, which were found in the Belousov–Zhabotinski systems, had a great momentum from a theoretical, even if not from a practical point of view. The analysis of Glansdorff and Prigogine was one of the motivations of this study.