A contemporary method to enhance the metastable zone width for crystal growth from solution

A contemporary method has been developed to enhance the metastable zone wid th of the solutions in their supersaturated region in order to enhance thei r stability to grow large size crystals with faster cooling rates. In which , the incorporation of a small quantity of ethylenediamine tetra acetic aci d (EDTA), a well-known chelating agent enhances the zone width significantl y due to its chelating action. Also, it is observed that this addition redu ces the nucleation rate and enhances the growth rate of the crystal appreci ably. This method was adopted in some of the popular crystals grown from so lutions such as potassium acid phthalate (KAP), potassium dihydrogen phosph ate (KDP) and triglycine sulphate (TGS) and confirmed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.