New experimental findings in two-dimensional fractal-like, dendritic and periodic growth of KCI in dense matrices

749-753Fractal-like, dendritic and periodic morphologies have been observed experimentally in thin films of KCI solution containing a denser matrix such as agar- agar or polyvinyl alcohol polymer. In the case of fractal-like structures, calculated values of fractal dimensions are in good agreement with two-dimensional diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) model. A transition like behaviour from fractal type to dendritic growth with increase in KCI concentration has been observed. Dendritic form is always found to be favoured when KCI content is high in comparison to the case when KCI content is low. In the case of dendritic growth, length of the crystal (d) increases linearly with time (t) obeying the equation d = mt + C, where the values of slope (m) and the intercept (C) depend on electrolyte concentration. In the case of periodic growth patterns, band locations (Xn) have been plotted as a function of band number n and the plots obey the simple relation Xn = mn + C where the values of slope m and the intercept C depend on experimental conditions