Conversion of stable crystals to metastable crystals in a solution by periodic change of temperature

TL;DR

This study models how periodic temperature changes can convert stable crystals into metastable ones in a solution, revealing the underlying growth and dissolution dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a Becker-Döring type model incorporating cluster incorporation to explain crystal conversion via temperature cycling.

Findings

Periodic temperature change can convert stable crystals into metastable crystals.

High temperature inhibits crystal dissolution despite increased small clusters.

Repeated temperature cycling effectively induces crystal state transformation.

Abstract

Using a Becker-D\"oring type model including cluster incorporation, we study the possibility of conversion of stable crystals to metastable crystals in a solution by a periodic change of temperature. At low temperature, both stable and metastable crystals grow by coalescence with abundant clusters. At high temperature, a large amount of small clusters produced by the dissolution of crystals inhibits the dissolution of crystals, and the imbalance in the amount of crystals increases. By repeating this process, the periodic temperature change can convert stable crystals into metastable crystals.