Structured ternary fluids as nanocrystal incubators for enhanced crystallization control.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Crystallography

Background:

• Nucleation is typically the rate-limiting step in solution crystallization, hindering investigation of nm-sized crystals.
• Limited crystal lifespan in conventional methods impedes manipulation and study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate crystallization in structured ternary fluids (STFs) for enhanced control and nanocrystal stabilization.
• To explore the potential of STFs for polymorph discovery and seeding.

Main Methods:

• Crystallization experiments conducted in structured ternary fluids (STFs) with restricted diffusion.
• Utilized octanol/ethanol/water STF to crystallize glycine polymorphs (α, γ, β).

Main Results:

• STFs facilitate higher nucleation rates and slower crystal growth, enabling nanocrystals to persist.
• Successfully crystallized all three ambient pressure polymorphs of glycine, including the challenging γ- and β-forms.
• Demonstrated the use of STF-derived nanocrystals to seed metastable solutions.

Conclusions:

• STFs act as effective nanocrystal incubators, offering enhanced crystallization control.
• STFs are a versatile tool for polymorph discovery, potentially revolutionizing screening approaches.
• STFs offer a generic methodology for producing desired crystal polymorphs and seed suspensions.