Continuous crystallization of paracetamol exploiting gas–liquid flow in modular nucleation and growth stages

Real-space imaging of nucleation and growth in colloidal crystallization.

Crystallization of concentrated colloidal suspensions was studied in real space with laser scanning confocal microscopy. Direct imaging in three dimensions allowed identification and observation of both nucleation and growth of crystalline regions, providing an experimental measure of properties of the nucleating crystallites. By following their evolution, we identified critical nuclei, determi...

The effect of shear flow on phase nucleation and crystallization

Classical nucleation theory offers a good framework for understanding the common features of new phase formation processes in metastable homogeneous media at rest. However, nucleation processes in liquids are ubiquitously affected by hydrodynamic flow, and there is no satisfactory understanding of whether shear promotes or slows down the nucleation process. We developed a classical nucleation t...

Time-controlled microfluidic seeding in nL-volume droplets to separate nucleation and growth stages of protein crystallization.

Continuous Plug Flow Crystallization of Pharmaceutical Compounds

Crystallization processes in the pharmaceutical industry are usually designed to obtain crystals with controlled size, shape, purity, and polymorphic form. Knowledge of the process conditions required to fabricate crystals with controlled characteristics is critical during process development. In this work, continuous crystallization of Ketoconazole, Flufenamic Acid, and L-Glutamic Acid in a no...

Nucleation theory and the early stages of thin film growth

A review is given of nucleation and growth models as applied to the earliest stages of thin film growth. Rate equations, kinetic Monte Carlo, and level set simulations are described in some detail, with discussion of remaining uncertainties, in particular the functional form of the so-called capture numbers in rate equations. Recent examples are given of sub-monolayer nucleation at surface defe...