Meteorology

Shear flow

Solubility

Particle size

Nucleation

Solvent

Molecule

Computer science

Colloid

Physical chemistry

Engineering

Composite material

Chemical engineering

Polymer

Thermodynamics

Viscosity

Polyelectrolyte

Shear rate

Organic chemistry

Crystallography

Chemical physics

Precipitation

Chemistry

Materials science

Programming language

Crystal (programming language)

Shear (geology)

Physics

Nature

The ability to grow properly sized and good quality crystals is one of the cornerstones of single-crystal diffraction, is advantageous in many industrial-scale chemical processes1–3, and is important for obtaining institutional approvals of new drugs for which high-quality crystallographic data are required4–7. Typically, single crystals suitable for such processes and analyses are grown for hours to days during which any mechanical disturbances—believed to be detrimental to the process—are carefully avoided. In particular, stirring and shear flows are known to cause secondary nucleation, which decreases the final size of the crystals (though shear can also increase their quantity8–14). Here we demonstrate that in the presence of polymers (preferably, polyionic liquids), crystals of various types grow in common solvents, at constant temperature, much bigger and much faster when stirred, rather than kept still. This conclusion is based on the study of approximately 20 diverse organic molecules, inorganic salts...

Enhancing crystal growth using polyelectrolyte solutions and shear flow