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Chemical garden

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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 formed 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 colorful, long tubular, plant-like structures, forms in minutes to hours .[1][2][3][4][5] In addition to these, organic chemical gardens have also been demonstrated.[6]

The chemical garden was first observed and described by Johann Rudolf Glauber in 17th century i.e., 1646.[7] In its original form, the chemical garden involved the introduction of ferrous chloride (FeCl2) crystals into a solution of potassium silicate (K2SiO3). Although they were not studied in detail until the 2000s.[1]

Chemical gardens have attracted increasing scientific interest because they can mimic geological and biological structures. Their nonequilibrium behaviour provides model systems for investigating self-organization and hypothesis about the emergence of life on earth and mars.[8] Hydrothermal vent chimneys are regarded as natural analogues of chemical gardens and have been widely studied as models for studying origins of life.[9][10][11]

Chemical gardens are named for their plant-like appearance and growth. The study of these structures and related self-organized systems is known as "chemobrionics", a newly emerging interdisciplinary field that integrates the concepts of physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and complex systems science to investigate reaction-diffusion-driven pattern formation.[12][13][14] The term chemobrionics derives from "chemo" and the Greek word bruein ("to grow or enlarge"), referring to the osmotically driven growth of chemical gardens and related self-organized inorganic systems.[15]

Process

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The chemical garden relies on most transition metal silicates being insoluble in water and colored.

When a metal salt, such as cobalt chloride, is added to a sodium silicate solution, it will start to dissolve. It will then form insoluble cobalt silicate by a double displacement reaction. This cobalt silicate is a semipermeable membrane. Because the ionic strength of the cobalt solution inside the membrane is higher than the sodium silicate solution's, which forms the bulk of the tank contents, osmotic effects will increase the pressure within the membrane. This will cause the membrane to rupture, forming a hole. The cobalt cations will react with the silicate anions at this tear to form a new solid. In this way, growths will form in the tanks; they will be colored (according to the metal cation) and may look like plant-like structures. The growth of chemical gardens is governed by the combined effect of osmotic pressure and buoyancy driven convection. Osmotic pressure across the semipermeable membrane increases the internal pressure until the membrane ruptures, while buoyancy driven flow promotes the upward growth of the tubular structures.[16][17][18]

The usual upward direction of growth depends on the density of the fluid inside the semi-permeable membrane of the "plant" being lower than that of the surrounding waterglass solution. If one uses a metal salt that produces a very dense fluid inside the membrane, the growth is downward. For example, a green solution of trivalent chromium sulfate or chloride refuses to crystallize without slowly changing into the violet form[clarification needed], even if boiled until it concentrates into a tarry mass. That tar, if suspended in the waterglass solution, forms downward twig-like growths. This is because all the fluid inside the membrane is too dense to float and thereby exerts a downward force. The concentration of sodium silicate becomes important in growth rate.

After the growth has ceased, the sodium silicate solution can be removed by a continuous addition of water at a very slow rate. This prolongs the life of the garden.[19]

In one specific experimental variation, researchers produced the chemical garden with a single growth "tube".[20]

In many modern chemical garden growth experiments, the solid reactant seed is replaced by the continuous injection of the corresponding reactant solution at a controlled flow rate, or more recently, under controlled osmotic pressure.[21]

Common salts used

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Common salts used in a chemical garden include:[22]

Experimental methods

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Chemical gardens can be prepared using a variety of experimental techniques. In addition to the classical and versatile seed-growth method, scientists have developed growth in gels, injection techniques,[23] membrane-based systems, quasi-two-dimensional Hele–Shaw cells,[24][25] experiments under magnetic fields,[26] and microgravity conditions,[27] growth under environmental scanning electron microscope[28], Growth in gaseous acidic atmospheres[29] to investigate the mechanisms of self-organized mineral growth.[1]

Practical uses

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While at first the chemical garden may appear to be primarily a toy, some serious work has been done on the subject.[3] For instance, this chemistry is related to the setting of Portland cement,[30] the formation of hydrothermal vents,[31] and during the corrosion of steel surfaces on which insoluble tubes can be formed.

The nature of the growth of the insoluble silicate tubes formed within chemical gardens is also useful in understanding classes of related behavior seen in fluids separated by membranes. In various ways, the growth of the silicate tubes resembles the growth of spikes or blobs of ice extruded above the freezing surface of still water,[32] the patterns of growth of gum drying as it drips from wounds in trees such as Eucalyptus, and the way molten wax forms twig-like growths, either dripping from a candle, or floating up through cool water.[citation needed] The fundamental principles governing their self-assembly and membrane dynamics have been extensively leveraged across multiple scientific disciplines, including biomedicine (e.g., engineering cellular scaffolds and bone substitute materials), and astrobiology (e.g., modeling prebiotic compartmentalization and the emergence of life in hydrothermal vent environments).[33]

Chemobrionic materials have also been investigated as active layers in memristive devices for neuromorphic computing. Copper silicate based chemical gardens have been shown to exhibit resistive switching behavior and synaptic functions, including paired-pulse facilitation and potentiation/depression, while operating with low energy consumption using solution-based fabrication methods. That broadens the applications potential of non-equilibrium structures.[34]

Paleontology

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If the conditions are good, chemical gardens can also occur in nature. There is evidence from paleontology, that such chemical gardens may fossilize. Such pseudofossils can be very difficult to distinguish from fossilized organisms. Indeed, some of the earliest purported fossils of life might be fossilized chemical gardens.[35]

Mixing iron-rich particles with alkaline liquids containing the chemicals silicate or carbonate have created biological-looking structures. Such structures may appear to be biological and/or fossils.[36][37][38] According to researchers, "Chemical reactions like these have been studied for hundreds of years but they had not previously been shown to mimic these tiny iron-rich structures inside rocks. These results call for a re-examination of many ancient real-world examples to see if they are more likely to be fossils or non-biological mineral deposits."[36][37]

One use of the study of chemical gardening is to be better able to distinguish biological structures, including fossils, from non-biological structures on the planet Mars.[36][37]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Barge, Laura M.; et al. (26 August 2015). "From Chemical Gardens to Chemobrionics". Chemical Reviews. 115 (16): 8652–8703. Bibcode:2015ChRv..115.8652B. 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. 1 2 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. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help)
  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. Bibcode:2003JAChS.125.4338T. doi:10.1021/ja0298343. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 12670257. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  5. ↑ Podbielski, Melanie; Knoll, Pamela; Brown, Georgia; Huld, Sigrid; Neubeck, Anna; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Sainz-Díaz, C. Ignacio; Pimentel, Carlos; McMahon, Sean (2025). "Troubles With Tubules: How Do Iron-Mineral Chemical Gardens Differ From Iron-Mineralized Sheaths of Iron Oxidizing Bacteria?". Geobiology. 23 (3) e70021. Bibcode:2025Gbio...2370021P. doi:10.1111/gbi.70021. ISSN 1472-4669. PMC 12078188. PMID 40368844.
  6. ↑ Pampalakis, Georgios (2016). "The Generation of an Organic Inverted Chemical Garden". Chemistry – A European Journal. 22 (20): 6779–6782. Bibcode:2016ChEuJ..22.6779P. doi:10.1002/chem.201504773. ISSN 1521-3765. PMID 26995656.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Costa Reis, Martina (11 March 2025). "Gravity-Induced Symmetry Breaking in Chemical Gardens". ACS Omega. 10 (9): 9496–9502. doi:10.1021/acsomega.4c10551. PMC 11904849. PMID 40092827.
  9. ↑ Aslanbay Guler, Bahar; Demirel, Zeliha; Imamoglu, Esra (26 September 2023). "Comparative Evaluation of Chemical Garden Growth Techniques". Langmuir. 39 (38): 13611–13619. doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01681. ISSN 0743-7463. PMC 10537426. PMID 37712591.
  10. ↑ McGlynn, Shawn E.; Kanik, Isik; Russell, Michael J. (28 June 2012). "Peptide and RNA contributions to iron–sulphur chemical gardens as life's first inorganic compartments, catalysts, capacitors and condensers". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 370 (1969): 3007–3022. Bibcode:2012RSPTA.370.3007M. doi:10.1098/rsta.2011.0211. ISSN 1364-503X. PMID 22615473.
  11. ↑ Barge, Laura M.; Flores, Erika; Baum, Marc M.; VanderVelde, David G.; Russell, Michael J. (12 March 2019). "Redox and pH gradients drive amino acid synthesis in iron oxyhydroxide mineral systems". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (11): 4828–4833. Bibcode:2019PNAS..116.4828B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1812098116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6421445. PMID 30804197.
  12. ↑ Čejková, Jitka; Cartwright, Julyan H. E. (2022). "Chemobrionics and Systems Chemistry". ChemSystemsChem. 4 (3) e202200002. doi:10.1002/syst.202200002. ISSN 2570-4206.
  13. ↑ Zheng, Mingchuan; Dumont, Emmanuelle; Featherstone, Romero D.; Mackay, Nicholas; Huppert, Herbert E.; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Routh, Alexander F. (2026). "Differing growth dynamics in seed-grown planar vertical chemical gardens". Soft Matter. 22 (6): 1340–1349. Bibcode:2026SMat...22.1340Z. doi:10.1039/D5SM00959F. ISSN 1744-683X. PMID 41574681.
  14. ↑ Budroni, Marcello A.; Rossi, Federico; Rongy, Laurence (2022). "From Transport Phenomena to Systems Chemistry: Chemohydrodynamic Oscillations in A+B→C Systems". ChemSystemsChem. 4 (1) e202100023. doi:10.1002/syst.202100023. ISSN 2570-4206.
  15. ↑ Cardoso, Silvana S. S.; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Čejková, Jitka; Cronin, Leroy; De Wit, Anne; Giannerini, Simone; Horváth, Dezső; Rodrigues, Alírio; Russell, Michael J.; Sainz-Díaz, C. Ignacio; Tóth, Ágota (September 2020). "Chemobrionics: From Self-Assembled Material Architectures to the Origin of Life". Artificial Life. 26 (3): 315–326. doi:10.1162/artl_a_00323. ISSN 1064-5462. PMID 32697160.
  16. ↑ Haudin, Florence; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Brau, Fabian; De Wit, A. (9 December 2014). "Spiral precipitation patterns in confined chemical gardens". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (49): 17363–17367. arXiv:1411.5099. Bibcode:2014PNAS..11117363H. doi:10.1073/pnas.1409552111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4267335. PMID 25385581.
  17. ↑ Barge, Laura M.; Doloboff, Ivria J.; White, Lauren M.; Stucky, Galen D.; Russell, Michael J.; Kanik, Isik (28 February 2012). "Characterization of Iron–Phosphate–Silicate Chemical Garden Structures". Langmuir. 28 (8): 3714–3721. Bibcode:2012Langm..28.3714B. doi:10.1021/la203727g. ISSN 0743-7463. PMID 22035594.
  18. ↑ Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; García-Ruiz, Juan Manuel; Novella, María Luisa; Otálora, Fermín (15 December 2002). "Formation of Chemical Gardens". Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 256 (2): 351–359. Bibcode:2002JCIS..256..351C. doi:10.1006/jcis.2002.8620. ISSN 0021-9797.
  19. ↑ Helmenstine, Anne Marie (16 March 2019). "Magic Rocks". thoughtco.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  20. ↑ Glaab, F.; Kellermeier, M.; Kunz, W.; Morallon, E.; García-Ruiz, J. M. (2012). "Formation and Evolution of Chemical Gradients and Potential Differences Across Self-Assembling Inorganic Membranes". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 51 (18): 4317–4321. doi:10.1002/anie.201107754. PMID 22431259.
  21. ↑ Nakouzi, Elias; Steinbock, Oliver (5 August 2016). "Self-organization in precipitation reactions far from the equilibrium". Science Advances. 2 (8) e1601144. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E1144N. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1601144. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 4991932. PMID 27551688.
  22. ↑ Pimentel C, Zheng M, Cartwright JH, Sainz-Díaz CI (15 February 2023). "Chemobrionics Database: Categorisation of Chemical Gardens According to the Nature of the Anion, Cation and Experimental Procedure". ChemSystemsChem. 5 (4) e202300002. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1002/syst.202300002. hdl:10481/81351. S2CID 256932493.
  23. ↑ Aslanbay Guler, Bahar; Demirel, Zeliha; Imamoglu, Esra (15 September 2023). "Comparative Evaluation of Chemical Garden Growth Techniques". Langmuir. 39 (38): 13611–13619. doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01681. ISSN 0743-7463. PMC 10537426. PMID 37712591.
  24. ↑ Ding, Yang; Gutiérrez-Ariza, Carlos M.; Zheng, Mingchuan; Felgate, Amy; Lawes, Anna; Sainz-Díaz, C. Ignacio; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Cardoso, Silvana S. S. (2022). "Downward fingering accompanies upward tube growth in a chemical garden grown in a vertical confined geometry". Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 24 (29): 17841–17851. Bibcode:2022PCCP...2417841D. doi:10.1039/D2CP01862D. ISSN 1463-9076. PMID 35851594.
  25. ↑ Wang, Qingpu; Zanotto, Franco M.; Steinbock, Oliver (1 October 2020). "Precipitate Patterns in a Hele-Shaw Cell with Small Sinusoidal Height Variations". The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 124 (39): 21617–21624. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c06921. ISSN 1932-7447.
  26. ↑ Uechi, Ichiro; Katsuki, Akio; Dunin-Barkovskiy, Lev; Tanimoto, Yoshifumi (26 February 2004). "3D-Morphological Chirality Induction in Zinc Silicate Membrane Tube Using a High Magnetic Field". The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 108 (8): 2527–2530. Bibcode:2004JPCB..108.2527U. doi:10.1021/jp036018o. ISSN 1520-6106.
  27. ↑ Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Escribano, Bruno; Sainz-Díaz, C. Ignacio; Stodieck, Louis S. (5 April 2011). "Chemical-Garden Formation, Morphology, and Composition. II. Chemical Gardens in Microgravity". Langmuir. 27 (7): 3294–3300. Bibcode:2011Langm..27.3294C. doi:10.1021/la104193q. hdl:20.500.11824/430. ISSN 0743-7463. PMID 21391639.
  28. ↑ Sainz-Díaz, C. Ignacio; Escribano, Bruno; Sánchez-Almazo, Isabel; Cartwright, Julyan H. E. (2021). "Chemical Gardens Under Mars Conditions: Imaging Chemical Garden Growth In Situ in an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope". Geophysical Research Letters. 48 (10) e2021GL092883. Bibcode:2021GeoRL..4892883S. doi:10.1029/2021GL092883. ISSN 1944-8007.
  29. ↑ Angelis, Georgios; Sant, Georgios; Vizirianakis, Ioannis S.; Pampalakis, Georgios (2023). "Growth of chemical gardens in gaseous acidic atmospheres". Chemical Communications. 59 (11): 1505–1508. doi:10.1039/D2CC06843E. ISSN 1359-7345. PMID 36655875.
  30. ↑ Rieder, Julian; Nicoleau, Luc; Glaab, Fabian; E. S. Van Driessche, Alexander; Manuel Garcia-Ruiz, Juan; Kunz, Werner; Kellermeier, Matthias (15 July 2022). "Dynamic diffusion and precipitation processes across calcium silicate membranes". Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 618: 206–218. Bibcode:2022JCIS..618..206R. doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.03.042. ISSN 0021-9797. PMID 35338927.
  31. ↑ Marlin, Theresa C.; Weber, Jessica M.; Sheppard, Rachel Y.; Perl, Scott; Diener, Derek; Baum, Marc M.; Barge, Laura M. (January 2025). "Chemical gardens as analogs for prebiotic chemistry on ocean worlds". Chem. 11 (1): 102289. Bibcode:2025Chem...1102289M. doi:10.1016/j.chempr.2024.08.012. ISSN 2451-9294.
  32. ↑ Carter, James R. "Ice Formations with Daily (Diurnal) Freeze/Thaw Cycles". Illinois State University. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  33. ↑ Barge, Laura M.; Cardoso, Silvana S. S.; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Cooper, Geoffrey J. T.; Cronin, Leroy; De Wit, Anne; Doloboff, Ivria J.; Escribano, Bruno; Goldstein, Raymond E.; Haudin, Florence; Jones, David E. H.; Mackay, Alan L.; Maselko, Jerzy; Pagano, Jason J.; Pantaleone, J. (26 August 2015). "From Chemical Gardens to Chemobrionics". Chemical Reviews. 115 (16): 8652–8703. Bibcode:2015ChRv..115.8652B. doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00014. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 26176351.
  34. ↑ Patel, Vipul; Patel, Mansi; Busupalli, Balanagulu; Solanki, Ankur (30 January 2024). "Interface Engineering Enables Multilevel Resistive Switching in Ultra-Low-Power Chemobrionic Copper Silicate". Langmuir. 40 (4): 2311–2319. doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03431. ISSN 0743-7463. PMID 38232767.
  35. ↑ McMahon, Sean (2020). "Earth's earliest and deepest purported fossils may be iron-mineralized chemical gardens". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286 (1916). Bibcode:2019PBioS.28692410M. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.2410. PMC 6939263. PMID 31771469.
  36. 1 2 3 University of Edinburgh (27 November 2019). "Solving fossil mystery could aid quest for ancient life on Mars". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  37. 1 2 3 McMahon, Sean (27 November 2019). "Earth's earliest and deepest purported fossils may be iron-mineralized chemical gardens". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286 (1916). Bibcode:2019PBioS.28692410M. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.2410. PMC 6939263. PMID 31771469.
  38. ↑ Steinbock, Oliver; et al. (1 March 2019). "The fertile physics of chemical gardens". Physics Today. 69 (3): 44. doi:10.1063/PT.3.3108.
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