Control Of Crystal Nucleation Research Articles

Control of Crystal Nucleation and Growth by Additives

Research Article| June 01, 2013 Control of Crystal Nucleation and Growth by Additives Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro; Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro 1Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, University of GranadaFuentenueva s/n, 18002 Granada, SpainE-mail: carlosrn@ugr.es Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Liane G. Benning Liane G. Benning 2School of Earth and Environment, University of LeedsLeeds, LS2 9JT, United KingdomE-mail: L.G.Benning@leeds.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Elements (2013) 9 (3): 203–209. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.9.3.203 Article history first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro, Liane G. Benning; Control of Crystal Nucleation and Growth by Additives. Elements 2013;; 9 (3): 203–209. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.9.3.203 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Abstract The survival of important pieces of our architectural and sculptural heritage is challenged by irreparable damage due to crystallization of soluble salts. Mineral precipitation is also a problem in many industrial processes, leading to costly scale formation. Most of the mechanisms that control these crystallization reactions can be modified or slowed down by using specific additives. Recent advances in elucidating the mechanisms of mineral nucleation and growth and molecular-level mineral–additive interactions have led to the development of novel treatments for the prevention of mineral scale and salt damage. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Characterization and control of crystal nucleation in amorphous electron beam evaporated silicon for thin film solar cells

The kinetics of crystal nucleation in high-rate electron beam evaporated amorphous Si for polycrystalline thin film solar cells was systematically studied on SiN and selected ZnO:Al-coated glass substrates with dissimilar surface topographies by employing Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. The influence of the surface topography of the substrate and the disorder of the deposited amorphous Si could be correlated to the respective characteristics of the transient and steady state regime of the nucleation rate. The steady state nucleation rate Iss, its corresponding activation energy EIss, and consequently the size of the grains in the crystallized Si were found to be governed by the interplay between the surface roughness and the deposition temperature. The steady state nucleation rate Iss increased gradually upon increasing the substrate roughness, while lowering the deposition temperature of the amorphous Si on rough textures resulted in a decline of Iss. The time-lag τ, which represents a distinctive parameter for the transient regime, was only slightly affected by the substrate topography. The deposition temperature, however, had a significant influence on τ, with τ increasing by a factor of 8 upon lowering the deposition temperature from 300 to 200 °C for all substrate topographies. These characteristics could be correlated with the increasing structural disorder of the deposited a-Si upon decreasing the deposition temperature. Based on this analysis, we could determine design rules for the controlled preparation of large-grained poly-Si in minimized processing time on any of the used substrate types by individually adjusting the deposition temperature and implementing nucleation layers.

Toward a Structure Determination Method for Biomineral-Associated Protein Using Combined Solid- State NMR and Computational Structure Prediction

Protein-biomineral interactions are paramount to materials production in biology, including the mineral phase of hard tissue. Unfortunately, the structure of biomineral-associated proteins cannot be determined by X-ray crystallography or solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Here we report a method for determining the structure of biomineral-associated proteins. The method combines solid-state NMR (ssNMR) and ssNMR-biased computational structure prediction. In addition, the algorithm is able to identify lattice geometries most compatible with ssNMR constraints, representing a quantitative, novel method for investigating crystal-face binding specificity. We use this method to determine most of the structure of human salivary statherin interacting with the mineral phase of tooth enamel. Computation and experiment converge on an ensemble of related structures and identify preferential binding at three crystal surfaces. The work represents a significant advance toward determining structure of biomineral-adsorbed protein using experimentally biased structure prediction. This method is generally applicable to proteins that can be chemically synthesized.

Towards a ‘universal’ nucleant for protein crystallization

The expression 'crystal clear' stems from the science of crystallography, which determines the detailed atomic structures of materials by exposing crystals to X-rays. Protein structures are pivotal to the success of rational drug design and other biotechnology applications; however, obtaining high quality crystals poses a major problem to progress. Nucleation is the first step that determines the entire crystallization process, thus control of crystal nucleation would tackle the problem at its conception. A search for a 'universal' nucleant, a substance that can induce nucleation of any protein, is therefore on-going. We report the advances that have been made in this area, highlighting the success of especially engineered as well as naturally structured surfaces.

Control of crystal nucleation: Insights from molecular simulation

Control of crystal nucleation: Insights from molecular simulation

Characterization of the Dense Liquid Precursor in Homogeneous Crystal Nucleation Using Solution State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Crystallization is very complicated, and therefore the control of crystal nucleation has been basically performed by trial and error, so far. This paper provides a novel, basic idea to cope with this problem theoretically on the basis of the experimental data on crystal nucleation. Here, detailed analysis of the homogeneous crystal nucleation of a novel acaricide, amidoflumet, using solution state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is reported. The dominant interaction between solute molecules was identified by the complexation-induced changes in chemical shift, corrected by the external double reference method. Also, the concentration dependence of the structure of the dense liquid precursor was well characterized by the apparent averaged structure of the solute cluster. Besides the importance of the supersaturation ratio as a relevant parameter to both the energy difference and the transition probability between the solution state and the solid state, the significance of the absolute solution conce...

Toward Stereochemical Control, Monitoring, and Understanding of Crystal Nucleation

In this review, the delicate interplay between stereochemical control, monitoring at the subnanometer level, and an understanding of crystal nucleation is probed. Control of crystal nucleation may be achieved employing tailor-made auxiliaries, which are either nucleation inhibitors or promoters. The process may be monitored at an interface via grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD). By these means, we can glean experimental knowledge of crystal nucleation in various molecular systems. A hypothesis was invoked that supersaturated solutions containing molecular clusters adopt various arrangements and shapes, some of which resemble the crystals into which they develop. This hypothesis was taken advantage of for the design of tailored inhibitors in achieving kinetic resolution of enantiomers and induced precipitation of particular crystal polymorphs. The control and behavior of polymorphic crystallization may be understood at the molecular level through the interplay between inhibitor, solvent, solute, cr...

Control of Crystal Nucleation and Growth of Calcium Carbonate by Synthetic Substrates

Construction of organic−inorganic hybrid materials with controlled mineralization analogous to those produced by nature is now of current interest for both organic and inorganic chemists to understand the mechanism of the natural biomineralization process as well as to seek industrial and technological applications. This review provides a general survey of recent research on control of crystal nucleation and growth of calcium carbonate by synthetic substrates from the viewpoint of organic and polymer chemistry. Model systems in which low-molecular-weight, linear polymeric, and dendritic organic additives are used to study the effect of molecular properties such as charge and functionality on inorganic crystallization are providing insights into the possible mechanisms operating in biology. To probe the organic−inorganic interface and resolve some of the molecular events mediating template-directed crystal nucleation and growth, a simple model surface, that is, compressed monolayers at the air/water interf...

Control of crystal nucleation by patterned self-assembled monolayers

An important requirement in the fabrication of advanced inorganic materials, such as ceramics and semiconductors, is control over crystallization1,2,3,4. In principle, the synthetic growth of crystals can be guided by molecular recognition at interfaces5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16. But it remains a practical challenge to control simultaneously the density and pattern of nucleation events, and the sizes and orientations of the growing crystals. Here we report a route to crystal formation, using micropatterned self-assembled monolayers17,18, which affords control over all these parameters. We begin with a metal substrate patterned with a self-assembled monolayer having areas of different nucleating activity—in this case, an array of acid-terminated regions separated by methyl-terminated regions. By immersing the patterned substrates in a calcium chloride solution and exposing them to carbon dioxide, we achieve ordered crystallization of calcite in the polar regions, where the rate of nucleation is fastest; crystallization can be completely suppressed elsewhere by a suitable choice of array spacing, which ensures that the solution is undersaturated in the methyl-terminated regions. The nucleation density (the number of crystals formed per active site) may be controlled by varying the area and distribution of the polar regions, and we can manipulate the crystallographic orientation by using different functional groups and substrates.