ABSTRACT
Crystallization kinetics of the metastable modifications of Nitric Acid Dihydrate (NAD) was investigated by time-dependent X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements. Kinetic conversion curves were evaluated adopting the Avrami model. The growth and morphology of the respective crystallites and particles were monitored in situ on the cryo-stage of an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) under a partial pressure of nitrogen gas (0.5 Torr, 67 Pa). The morphologies were used to adapt the InfraRed (IR) extinction spectra by T-matrix calculation using respective optical indices of NAD. The results show a significant dependence of the band shapes on different morphologies.
ABSTRACT
Crystallization kinetics of stable and metastable nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) were investigated by time dependent X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) measurements. Kinetic conversion curves were evaluated adopting the Avrami model. The growth and morphology of the respective crystallites were monitored in situ on the cryo-stage of an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) under a partial pressure of nitrogen gas (0.3 Torr, 40 Pa). The results show a close relationship between the presence of ice in the sample and the crystallization mechanism of NAT, which results in different shapes and sizes of NAT crystal particles.