Segregation disrupts the Arrhenius behavior of an isomerization reaction

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to show that phase segregation can significantly disrupt the Arrhenius behavior of isomerization reactions in binary mixtures, highlighting complex interplay between reaction and diffusion dynamics.

Contribution

It demonstrates how phase segregation affects the kinetic behavior of isomerization reactions, providing insights into reaction kinetics in segregated systems.

Findings

Arrhenius behavior is disrupted by phase segregation

Interplay between reaction and diffusion dynamics alters kinetics

Simulation approach can be applied to complex reactions

Abstract

Co-existence of phase segregation and \emph{interconversion} or \emph{isomerization} reaction among molecular species leads to fascinating structure formation in biological and chemical world. Using Monte Carlo simulations of the prototype Ising model, we explore the chemical kinetics of such a system consisting of a binary mixture of \emph{isomers}. Our results reveal that even though the two concerned processes are individually Arrhenius in nature, the Arrhenius behavior of the \emph{isomerization} reaction gets significantly disrupted due to an interplay of the nonconserved dynamics of the reaction and the conserved diffusive dynamics of phase segregation. The approach used here can be potentially adapted to understand reaction kinetics of more complex reactions.