Abstract
This dissertation experimentally examines the dynamics of a synthetic network comprised of a ring of three coupled chemical oscillators. The network is created by confining the auto-catalytic, light-sensitive BZ reaction to micro-fabricated wells constructed from the elastomer PDMS. Each well can be regarded as a single network node that sends and receives chemical signals with the neighboring oscillators. In this work, we devised a series of combined experiments and models to determine the partition, reversible and irreversible reaction, and diffusion constants of aqueous bromine with the PDMS used for separating the oscillators. These coefficients are important parameters for modeling networks of BZ oscillators by accounting for bromine transport through PDMS. The network of three BZ oscillators in a ring has two stable attractors with large basins of attraction: clockwise and counter-clockwise waves of excitation. Our experimental findings are compared with two theoretical models: the chemical Vanag-Epstein model and the Kuramoto phase model. This dissertation explores a large set of experimental parameters and evaluates their role on the network's dynamics. Such parameters are the oscillators' size, distances, type of the ruthenium catalyst, boundary conditions, and bromine passivation.