Liquid-liquid interfacial crystallization has been proposed as a novel crystallization process. This method enables us to crystallize solute materials at normal and constant temperature without heating or cooling. The applications of this method in medicine and food science can be expected. As reported in our previous paper, it was possible to produce porous particles by forming droplet interfaces in developed atomizing crystallization.
In this study, a fabrication of organic/inorganic composite particles by atomizing crystallization has been conducted. The silica was used as a core particle and the glycine was used as a coating substance. The interface between glycine solution and organic solvent was formed on the silica particle by wetting the silica surface with glycine solution. The glycine / silica particles were produced since glycine crystals were precipitated on the silica surface by atomizing crystallization. The effect of organic solvent on the mean particle size of composite particles was in the order of 1-butanol > 2-methyl-1-propanole > 2-butanone > 2-butanol. The unstable β-glycine could be precipitated by the liquid-liquid interfacial crystallization, and transformation from the unstable β-glycine to the metastable α-glycine occurred by solution-mediated transformation.
