Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics of Non-Ideal Reaction-Diffusion Systems: Implications for Active Self-Organization

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive thermodynamic framework for non-ideal reaction-diffusion systems, explaining self-organization, dissipation, and the influence of reaction networks, with implications for biological and material phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical approach combining thermodynamics and reaction-diffusion dynamics for non-ideal systems, highlighting mechanisms of self-organization and energetic costs.

Findings

Reveals how reaction networks influence self-organized structures.

Identifies classes of networks with diffusion equilibrium within structures.

Proposes a kinetic potential minimization for configuration prediction.

Abstract

We develop a framework describing the dynamics and thermodynamics of open non-ideal reaction-diffusion systems, which embodies Flory-Huggins theories of mixtures and chemical reaction network theories. Our theory elucidates the mechanisms underpinning the emergence of self-organized dissipative structures in these systems. It evaluates the dissipation needed to sustain and control them, discriminating the contributions from each reaction and diffusion process with spatial resolution. It also reveals the role of the reaction network in powering and shaping these structures. We identify particular classes of networks in which diffusion processes always equilibrate within the structures, while dissipation occurs solely due to chemical reactions. The spatial configurations resulting from these processes can be derived by minimizing a kinetic potential, contrasting with the minimization of the thermodynamic free energy in passive systems. This framework opens the way to investigating the energetic cost of phenomena such as liquid-liquid phase separation, coacervation, and the formation of biomolecular condensates.