Coupled oscillations in a 1D emulsion of Belousov--Zhabotinsky droplets

We experimentally and computationally study the dynamics of interacting oscillating Belousov--Zhabotinsky (BZ) droplets of 100 micron diameter separated by perfluorinated oil and arranged in a one-dimensional array. A microfluidic chip is used for mixing the BZ reactants, forming monodisperse droplets by flow-focusing and directing them into a hydrophobized 100 micron diameter capillary. In order to make quantitative comparison with theory, we use photosensitive Ru(bipy)$_{3}$ catalyzed BZ droplets and set both boundary and initial conditions of arrays of small numbers of oscillating BZ droplets with a programmable illumination source. The coupling strength is a function of malonic acid concentration and varying coupling strength leads to the generation of different dynamical attractors. In many cases, simulations agree well with experiments.