Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

The Silicate Garden Reaction in Microgravity: A Fluid Interfacial Instability

Jones1, Walter

  • 1Chemistry Department, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
|December 16, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Silicate garden experiments in microgravity revealed complex structures like tubes and dendritic fingers. These findings suggest Laplacian-growth morphology is driven by ion diffusion, independent of gravity.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Metabolism of Cytokinins by Tissue Culture Lines of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Producing Normal and Abnormal Flowering Palms.

Journal of plant growth regulation·1999
Same author

Dipole Moment Function of LiF and LiCl Obtained from the Herman-Wallis Analysis: A Comparative Study with the MBER Data.

Journal of molecular spectroscopy·1999
Same author

Tracheary element differentiation uses a novel mechanism coordinating programmed cell death and secondary cell wall synthesis

Plant physiology·1999
Same author

Differential expression of three members of the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase gene family in carnation

Plant physiology·1999
Same author

Thermodynamics of Micellization of Surfactants of Low Aggregation Number: The Aggregation of Propranolol Hydrochloride.

Journal of colloid and interface science·1999
Same author

Electrical conductivity in the precambrian lithosphere of western canada

Science (New York, N.Y.)·1999

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Fluid Dynamics

Background:

  • The silicate garden reaction involves metal salt crystals in sodium silicate solution, forming semipermeable membranes and hollow tubes that grow against gravity via convection.
  • Understanding fundamental organizing principles requires studying this reaction in the absence of gravity and convective influences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the growth of silicate gardens in microgravity to reveal fundamental organizing principles.
  • To observe the structures formed by silicate gardens under isotropic, gravity-free conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Grew silicate gardens using calcium, cobalt, and magnesium-nickel salts in microgravity.
  • Observed and analyzed the resulting complex structures, including tubes, hollow spheroids, and dendritic "fingers".

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Complex structures, including tubes, hollow spheroids, and novel dendritic "fingers" formed in microgravity.
  • Dendritic growth occurred via continuous plastic deformation, favored by slow, diffusion-limited reaction rates in microgravity.
  • The magnesium-nickel garden exhibited fluid interfacial instability, with shapes resembling Laplacian-growth morphology seen in supercooled melts.

Conclusions:

  • Microgravity conditions promote novel growth modes in silicate gardens, such as plastic deformation and fluid interfacial instability.
  • Laplacian-growth morphology in microgravity silicate gardens is proposed to arise from the diffusion of dissolved ions, analogous to heat diffusion in solidifying melts.