Direct crystal to glass transformation of trehalose induced by ball milling

Structural and thermodynamic changes in the organic molecular crystal of tr ehalose upon high energy ball milling have been studied. The investigations have been performed by X-ray diffraction and by differential scanning calo rimetry. The results show that mechanical milling induces a direct transfor mation from crystal to glass. It is underlined that glassy amorphous trehal ose can also be produced by two other independent routes: the thermal quenc h of the liquid state and the dehydration of the dihydrate form of trehalos e. This makes trehalose a promising molecular crystal for the fundamental s tudy of the solid state amorphization processes themselves. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.