Lemanowicz Marcin, Wong Munoz Esteban, Mielańczyk Anna, Kiraga Krzysztof, Gierczycki Andrzej
Department of Chemical Engineering and Process Design, Faculty of Chemistry, Silesian University of Technology, ul. ks. M. Strzody 7, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
LOSENTECH SP. Z O.O., ul. Chabrowa 1, 44-210 Rybnik, Poland.
Materials (Basel). 2021 Sep 17;14(18):5373. doi: 10.3390/ma14185373.
In this paper, the experimental research concerning the impact of the hydrophilic-hydrophobic transition of a polymer exhibiting the Upper Critical Solution Temperature (UCST) onto the crystallization process of inorganic salt is presented. A hypothesis was postulated that under favorable process conditions the sudden change of macromolecules properties and the resulting appearance of insoluble particles will induce the nucleation process of the salt. Since the transition point parameters may be precisely designed, the described mechanism would eliminate the stochastic nature of the crystallization process. Although performed experiments proved that the postulated process mechanism was incorrect, the presence of macromolecules had a significant impact on the crystallization course. The stochastic nature of the process was not eliminated; nevertheless, it seems that a specific point of nucleation was created which was independent of the cloud point temperature (T) of the polymer. Moreover, the surface morphology of crystals was changed.
本文介绍了关于具有上临界溶液温度（UCST）的聚合物的亲水 - 疏水转变对无机盐结晶过程影响的实验研究。提出了一个假设，即在有利的工艺条件下，大分子性质的突然变化以及由此产生的不溶性颗粒的出现将引发盐的成核过程。由于转变点参数可以精确设计，所描述的机制将消除结晶过程的随机性。尽管进行的实验证明假设的过程机制是不正确的，但大分子的存在对结晶过程有显著影响。该过程的随机性并未消除；然而，似乎形成了一个独立于聚合物浊点温度（T）的特定成核点。此外，晶体的表面形态发生了变化。
