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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Planting seeds: Researchers dig into how chemical gardens grow    
      
     Date:   
         July 3, 2023   
     Source:   
         Florida State University   
     Summary:   
         Until now, researchers have been unable to model how deceptively   
         simple tubular structures -- called chemical gardens -- work and   
         the patterns and rules that govern their formation. Researchers   
         now lay out a model that explains how these structures grow upward,   
         form different shapes and how they go from a flexible, self-healing   
         material to a more brittle one.   
      
      
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   Since the mid-1600s, chemists have been fascinated with brightly colored,   
   coral-like structures that form by mixing metal salts in a small bottle.   
      
   Until now, researchers have been unable to model how these deceptively   
   simple tubular structures -- called chemical gardens -- work and the   
   patterns and rules that govern their formation.   
      
   In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy   
   of Sciences, Florida State University researchers lay out a model that   
   explains how these structures grow upward, form different shapes and   
   how they go from a flexible, self-healing material to a more brittle one.   
      
   "In a materials context, it's very interesting," said FSU Professor   
   of Chemistry and Biochemistry Oliver Steinbock. "They don't grow   
   like crystals. A crystal has nice sharp corners and grows atom layer   
   by atom layer. And when a hole occurs in a chemical garden, it's   
   self-healing. These are really early steps in learning how to make   
   materials that can reconfigure and repair themselves."  Typically,   
   chemical gardens form when metal salt particles are put in a silicate   
   solution. The dissolving salt reacts with the solution to create a   
   semipermeable membrane that ejects upward in the solution, creating a   
   biological-looking structure, similar to coral.   
      
   Scientists observed chemical gardens for the first time in 1646 and   
   for years have been fascinated with their interesting formations. The   
   chemistry is related to the formation of hydrothermal vents and the   
   corrosion of steel surfaces where insoluble tubes can form.   
      
   "People realized these were peculiar things," Steinbock said. "They have   
   a very long history in chemistry. It became more like a demonstration   
   experiment, but in the past 10-20 years, scientists became interested   
   in them again."  Inspiration for the mathematical model developed by   
   Steinbock, along with postdoctoral researcher Bruno Batista and graduate   
   student Amari Morris, came from experiments that steadily injected a salt   
   solution into a larger volume of silicate solution between two horizontal   
   plates. These showed distinct growth modes and that the material starts   
   off as stretchy, but as it ages, the material becomes more rigid and   
   tends to break.   
      
   The confinement between two layers allowed the researchers to simulate   
   a number of different shape patterns, some looking like flowers, hair,   
   spirals and worms.   
      
   In their model, the researchers described how these patterns emerge   
   over the course of the chemical garden's development. Salt solutions can   
   vary a lot in chemical makeup, but their model explains the universality   
   in formation.   
      
   For example, the patterns can consist of loose particles, folded   
   membranes, or self-extending filaments. The model also validated   
   observations that fresh membranes expand in response to microbreaches,   
   demonstrating the material's self-healing capabilities.   
      
   "The good thing we got is we got into the essence of what is needed to   
   describe the shape and growth of chemical gardens," Batista said.   
      
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   Materials provided by Florida_State_University. Original written by   
   Kathleen Haughney. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Bruno C. Batista, Amari Z. Morris, Oliver Steinbock. Pattern   
      selection by   
         material aging: Modeling chemical gardens in two and three   
         dimensions.   
      
         Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (28)   
         DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2305172120   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230703155932.htm   
      
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