Experimental steady pattern formation in reaction-diffusion-advection systems

We present here experimental evidence of a mechanism of a steady-chemical pattern formation called "flow-and-diffusion structures" (FDS). Experiments were performed using the photosensitive chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction, where the differential diffusion can be chemically controlled. Using the analogy between an advection boundary and a moving boundary, we obtain the formation of spatially periodic steady patterns, which matches all the previously theoretical predictions for FDS patterns. Numerical simulations are also reported in agreement with the experimental results.