Templated Crystal Nucleation Phenomena at the Air/Solution Interface Focusing on the Repulsive Force

Abstract

Templated crystallization at the air/solution interface has the potential to produce monodispersed crystalline particles. To produce monodispersed particles adequately, the number of nuclei at the air/solution interface should be enhanced; however, it is predicted that increasing the number of nuclei has a negative effect on the size distribution (CV value). The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the number of nuclei and the CV value in templated crystallization. The air/solution interface was generated under static and vibration conditions. The average nucleation density under the vibration condition was about four times greater than that under the static condition. Disturbing the air/solution interface had no significant effect on the CV value. The reason behind this is that a repulsive force existed between neighboring crystals as suggested by additional observational results.