Detection of chemical waves by magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used for the first time to detect chemical waves in a nonlinear colourless medium. Observation of these self-organized spatial structures has been reported previously using traditional visual and optical techniques based on changes of light absorption. The ferroin-catalyzed Belousov—Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is the most studied example. MRI is widely used in medical and biological research to provide proton relaxation-time-weighted images using the spin-echo technique. In the present communication we demonstrate the capability of MRI for visualizing chemical waves in the Mn 2+ -catalyzed BZ system. The dynamics of spiral waves in quasi-2D thin layers is followed and the meander motion of the spiral is examined. In three-dimensional reaction vessels we observe spherical waves and scroll rings.