Crystallization & Its Applications

From the snow formation process of crystallization, the artful beauty of this chemistry phenomenon can be glimpsed. Actually behind the amazing picture is the great strength of this reaction in various aspects from simple compound purification to chemical characters identification, even drug discovery.

Why do compounds crystallize?

With a decrease in temperature, the dissolving capacity of a solvent also decreases (called supersaturation), with which some molecules will be released from the solid and bond together to form a crystal. Generally, the crystal will be relatively pure as the molecules that get rid of the liquid will gradually increase the size of the crystal; then the ones with same geometry would stay there and the ones with different geometry, in other words, molecules of other types, will go back to the solution. Exceptional cases exist when the cool process goes too quickly to let the foreign molecules leave the crystal and go back to the liquor.

How to crystallize a compound? 

The general process is simple, and it can be done with ease for fun. Water crystallization-snow is a typical example of crystallization in our daily lives, and the harvest of salt is another one. But a lot of other matters need to be considered for a scientific task in labs. Here is the basic process to crystallize compounds.

1, Increase the temp of the solution (containing the compounds needed to be crystallized) till no solid substance can be found;

2, Decrease the temp of the solution gradually while keeps it static.

3, Isolate the crystal and dry them naturally

What’s the application of crystallization?

The most practical usage of crystallization should be salt crystallization and it’s the most cost-effective way to produce salt even at today. Other applications of the tech include compound purification and crystal production. It’s quite common to produce sample materials by crystallization, especially for salt-powder chemicals. It’s also applied for large-scale productions like food additives.

Is there any Deductive technology developed?

The answer is surely yes. As it’s an important method to produce many known and unknown substances, there are analytical techs to identify the structure and characters of the unknowns. X-ray crystallography is an advanced tech for the analysis of crystals, by which, the chemistry characters of a target chemical can be learned. In addition, the 3D structure of the chemical can be known with X-ray crystallography. This tech is quite important in assisting the drug discovery process.

Crystallization has long been considered as a representative of science beauty. And its’ fabulous process can be a good resource to make beginning learner fall in love with chemistry at the first glance.

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BOC Sciences is a professional chemical supplier and related services provider. Crystallization service is one of the featured services the company provides. BOC Sciences will endeavor to inform more basic knowledge about chemistry to make them easier to be understood.