Nucleation Kinetics of L-Arginine, L-Lysine and L-Alanine Doped Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate Crystals

Abstract

The solubility, induction period and nucleation parameters of pure and amino acids like L-arginine, L-lysine and L-alanine doped potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals have been determined. Solubility study of pure and amino acids doped KDP crystals were carried out for different temperatures. The induction period was measured at different supersaturation level. The nucleation parameters like interfacial tension, radius of critical nucleus and energy of formation were calculated based on the classical theory of nucleation. Values of different parameters were found to be larger for amino acid doped crystals than pure KDP crystal.