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Activating Molecules, Ions, and Solid Particles with Acoustic Cavitation
Published on: April 11, 2014
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Altering ROY polymorph crystallization in conventional and microfluidic crystallizers with acoustic cavitation
Mohammed Noorul Hussain1, Arthur Demuynck2, Tom Van Gerven2
1ProcESS Division, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. mohammednoorul.hussain@uantwerpen.be.
Scientific Reports
|April 24, 2025
Summary
Acoustic cavitation, or sonication, influences crystal form nucleation during anti-solvent crystallization. Sonication promotes the stable Y form in batch and low-flow crystallization, potentially via polymorphic transformation.
Area of Science:
- Crystallization Science
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Selective crystallization of polymorphs is challenging, influenced by parameters like mixing, temperature, and solvent.
- Acoustic cavitation, induced by low ultrasonic frequencies, causes micro-mixing and local heating, impacting crystallization.
- Understanding these effects is crucial for controlling crystal form nucleation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of acoustic cavitation on polymorph nucleation during anti-solvent crystallization.
- To compare the influence of sonication in batch and microfluidic flow crystallization setups.
- To explore the mechanism by which acoustic cavitation affects polymorphic outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Anti-solvent crystallization of a model compound (ROY) was performed.
- Experiments utilized batch and microfluidic flow crystallization setups.
- Conditions included varying anti-solvent fractions under silent and sonicated (acoustic cavitation) states.
- High-speed camera and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were employed.
Main Results:
- Sonication significantly affected the polymorphic outcome, promoting the stable Y form in batch crystallization.
- This effect was observed in flow crystallization at low flow rates but diminished at higher rates due to reduced residence times.
- High-speed imaging suggested ultrasound-enhanced polymorphic transformation, rather than direct nucleation, facilitated Y form generation.
- CFD simulations indicated supersaturation distribution impacts polymorph nucleation in silent flow conditions.
Conclusions:
- Acoustic cavitation is a viable method to control polymorph selection, favoring the stable Y form.
- The effectiveness of sonication depends on crystallization setup and operating conditions like flow rate and residence time.
- Polymorphic transformation, enhanced by ultrasound, appears to be a key mechanism in sonicated crystallization.
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