KINETIC-STUDY ON THE EARLY-STAGE OF THE CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS OF 2 FORMS OF LYSOZYME CRYSTALS BY PHOTON-CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY

By using photon correlation spectroscopy, we have investigated the kin etics of the growth of clusters in two kinds of supersaturated lysozym e solutions at pH 4.6 and temperature 35 degrees C from which orthorho mbic rectangular crystals and needle-like crystals appear. Although th e two kinds of crystals have quite different final morphologies, the i ncrease of the cluster size in the early stage of the crystallization process can be commonly explained by a diffusion-limited aggregation m odel, which suggests that the clusters of random aggregates are formed in the early stage irrespective of the crystal's systems or habits. W e suggest that the needle-like crystals may be what these initial clus ters grow to be.