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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

A Microfluidic Approach for the Study of Ice and Clathrate Hydrate Crystallization
Published on: August 18, 2022
The crystallization kinetics and morphology of nitric acid trihydrate
Hinrich Grothe1, Heinz Tizek, Debbie Waller
1Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Materials Chemistry, Austria. grothe@tuwien.ac.at
Abstract:
Crystallization kinetics of stable and metastable nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) were investigated by time dependent X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) measurements. Kinetic conversion curves were evaluated adopting the Avrami model. The growth and morphology of the respective crystallites were monitored in situ on the cryo-stage of an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) under a partial pressure of nitrogen gas (0.3 Torr, 40 Pa). The results show a close relationship between the presence of ice in the sample and the crystallization mechanism of NAT, which results in different shapes and sizes of NAT crystal particles.
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