Geometry-induced pulse instability in microdesigned catalysts: the effect of boundary curvature

We explore the effect of boundary curvature on the instability of reactive pulses in the catalytic oxidation of CO on microdesigned Pt catalysts. Using ring-shaped domains of various radii, we find that the pulses disappear (decollate from the inert boundary) at a turning point bifurcation, and trace this boundary in both physical and geometrical parameter space. These computations corroborate experimental observations of pulse decollation.