Effect of Gel Parameters on Nucleation and Growth of CaSO 3 · 0.5 H 2 O Crystals in Silica Gel

In continuation to our previous work on the gel growth of single crystals, this paper describes the effect of concentration of feed solution, gel pH, gel density, ageing of gels, intermediate neutral gel and concentration programming on nucleation and growth of CaSO 3 0.5 H 2 O crystals. Transparent single crystals of CaSO 3 0.5 H 2 O have been obtained at low pH and low density gels. Gel ageing and intemediate neutral gel column reduce the nucleation centres and increase the size of crystals without affecting their quality. The nucleation density increases with the increase of concentration of feed solution. By concentration programming the size of the crystals increases.