Applying a strong static DC
electric field to supersaturated aqueous
glycine solutions resulted in the
nucleation of the γ polymorph attributed to the electric-field induced orientation of the highly polar
glycine molecules in large preexisting solute clusters, helping them organize into a crystalline structure. A method to induce
crystallization and to prepare polymorphs and / or morphologies of materials by using a static
electric field to cause
nucleation and
crystal growth to occur in a supersaturated solution in such a way as to obtain a
crystal structure that would not normally appear without the use of the static
electric field. Aqueous
glycine solutions were prepared by combining
solid glycine and water. Supersaturated solutions were generated by heating the tubes to 62-64° C. and holding them at that temperature in an ultrasonicator overnight. Once the glycine was completely dissolved, the solutions were slowly cooled to
room temperature. A chamber was constructed consisting of two
brass electrodes separated by a 5 mm insulating gap, with a hole drilled down through the center, parallel to the gap-
electrode interface, with a
diameter large enough to accommodate the
test tube. A
DC voltage was applied across the electrodes, large enough to produce electric fields in the range of 400,000 to 800,000 V / m. Tests tubes containing the aged solutions were placed in the high-
voltage chamber.
Exposure of the aged solutions to fields of 600,000 V / m resulted in
crystallization typically within 30-90 min. The onset of
nucleation was observed visually by the formation of a needle-shaped
crystallite.