Crystallization kinetics and phase behaviour of molecular solutions

Abstract

The goals of this research are: (i) to study the effects of the rate of supersaturation on crystallization kinetics and polymorph selectivity; and (ii) to develop a generalized phase diagram from first principles and verify its applicability to a wide range of molecular solutions. This thesis begins with highlights to the importance of pharmaceutical crystallization (Chapter 1), then summarizes current state-of-the-art of solution crystallization research (Chapter 2), followed by describing the progressive aspects of this research in detail, from how the macroscopic phase transitions (Chapter 3) and final crystal properties (Chapter 4) are affected by the rate of supersaturation to how the microscopic particle interactions influence both the equilibrium solution phase behavior such as solubility boundary (Chapter 5) and the nonequilibrium phase transitions such as liquid-liquid phase separation and gel formation (Chapter 6). Last but not least, conclusions are drawn and future directions are prospected in Chapter 7.