Chemical garden

Comparison of chemical gardens grown by NASA scientists on the International Space Station (left) and on the ground (right)
A chemical garden while growing
Cobalt(II) chloride
A chemical garden

A chemical garden is a set of complex biological-looking structures created by mixing inorganic chemicals. This experiment in chemistry is usually performed by adding metal salts, such as copper sulfate or cobalt(II) chloride, to an aqueous solution of sodium silicate (otherwise known as waterglass). This results in the growth of plant-like forms in minutes to hours.[1][2][3][4]

The chemical garden was first observed and described by Johann Rudolf Glauber in 1646.[5] In its original form, the chemical garden involved the introduction of ferrous chloride (FeCl2) crystals into a solution of potassium silicate (K2SiO3).

  1. ^ Barge, Laura M.; et al. (26 August 2015). "From Chemical Gardens to Chemobrionics". Chemical Reviews. 115 (16): 8652–8703. doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00014. hdl:20.500.11824/172. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 26176351.
  2. ^ Balköse, D.; Özkan, F.; Köktürk, U.; Ulutan, S.; Ülkü, S.; Nişli, G. (2002). "Characterization of Hollow Chemical Garden Fibers from Metal Salts and Water Glass" (PDF). Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology. 23 (3): 253. doi:10.1023/A:1013931116107. hdl:11147/4652. S2CID 54973427.
  3. ^ Cartwright, J; García-Ruiz, Juan Manuel; Novella, María Luisa; Otálora, Fermín (2002). "Formation of Chemical Gardens". Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 256 (2): 351. Bibcode:2002JCIS..256..351C. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.7.7604. doi:10.1006/jcis.2002.8620.
  4. ^ Thouvenel-Romans, S; Steinbock, O (April 2003). "Oscillatory growth of silica tubes in chemical gardens" (PDF). Journal of the American Chemical Society. 125 (14): 4338–41. doi:10.1021/ja0298343. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 12670257. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  5. ^ Glauber, Johann Rudolf (1646). "Wie man in diesem Liquore von allen Metallen in wenig Stunden Bäume mit Farben soll wachsen machen." [How one shall make grow—in this solution, from all metals, in a few hours—trees with color]. Furni Novi Philosophici (German-language 1661 ed.). Amsterdam: Johan Jansson. pp. 186–189.