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Crystallization

is the (natural or artificial) process by which a solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some of the ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, melting, or more rarely deposition directly from a gas. Attributes of the resulting crystal depend largely on factors such as temperature, air pressure, and in the case of liquid crystals, time of fluid evaporation.

Crystal formation can be divided into two types, where the first type of crystals are composed of a cation and anion, also known as a salt, such as sodium acetate. The second type of crystals are composed of uncharged species, for example menthol.^[1]

Crystal formation can be achieved by various methods, such as: cooling, evaporation, addition of a second solvent to reduce the solubility of the solute (technique known as antisolvent or drown-out), solvent layering, sublimation, changing the cation or anion, as well as other methods.

The formation of a supersaturated solution does not guarantee crystal formation, and often a seed crystal or scratching the glass is required to form nucleation sites.

A typical laboratory technique for crystal formation is to dissolve the solid in a solution in which it is partially soluble, usually at high temperatures to obtain supersaturation. The hot mixture is then filtered to remove any insoluble impurities. The filtrate is allowed to slowly cool. Crystals that form are then filtered and washed with a solvent in which they are not soluble, but is miscible with the mother liquor. The process is then repeated to increase the purity in a technique known as recrystallization.

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Sugar Crystals

C_nH_2nO_n

http://notesonameal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sugar-crystals.jpg

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Sugar Crystals

Sugar crystals are also known as rock candy since the crystallized sucrose (table sugar) resembles rock crystals and because you can eat your finished product. You can grow beautiful clear sugar crystals with sugar and water or you can add food coloring to get colored crystals. It's simple, safe, and fun. Boiling water is required to dissolve the sugar, so adult supervision is recommended for this project.

Recipe

1 cup water

3 cups table sugar (sucrose)

Clean glass jar

Pencil or butter knife

String

Pan or bowl for boiling water and making the solution

Spoon or stirring rod

Process

Gather your materials.

You may wish to grow a seed crystal, a small crystal to weight your string and provide a surface for larger crystals to grow onto. A seed crystal is not necessary as long as you are using a rough string or yarn.

Tie the string to a pencil or butter knife. If you have made a seed crystal, tie it to the bottom of the string. Set the pencil or knife across the top of the glass jar and make sure that the string will hang into the jar without touching its sides or bottom. However, you want the string to hang nearly to the bottom. Adjust the length of the string, if necessary.

Boil the water. If you boil your water in the microwave, be very careful removing it to avoid getting splashed!

Stir in the sugar, a teaspoonful at a time. Keep adding sugar until it starts to accumulate at the bottom of the container and won't dissolve even with more stirring. This means your sugar solution is saturated. If you don't use a saturated solution, then your crystals won't grow quickly.

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Sugar Crystals

On the other hand, if you add too much sugar, new crystals will grow on the undissolved sugar and not on your string.

If you want colored crystals, stir in a few drops of food coloring.

Pour your solution into the clear glass jar. If you have undissolved sugar at the bottom of your container, avoid getting it in the jar.

Place the pencil over the jar and allow the string to dangle into the liquid.

Set the jar somewhere where it can remain undisturbed. If you like, you can set a coffee filter or paper towel over the jar to prevent dust from falling into the jar.

Check on your crystals after a day. You should be able to see the beginnings of crystal growth on the string or seed crystal.

Let the crystals grow until they have reached the desired size or have stopped growing. At this point, you can pull out the string and allow the crystal to dry. You can eat them or keep them. Have fun!

If you are having trouble growing sugar crystals, you may want to try some special techniques. A video tutorial showing how to make rock candy is available, too.

them.

Result

Crystals will form on a cotton or wool string or yarn, but not on a nylon line. If you use a nylon line, tie a seed crystal to it to stimulate crystal growth.

If you are making the crystals to eat, please don't use a fishing weight to hold your string down. The lead from the weight will end up in the water, it's toxic. Paper clips are a better choice, but still not great.

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-grow-sugar-crystals-607659

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Salt Crystals�N_aCI

https://www.thoughtco.com/growing-table-salt-crystals-607663

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Salt Crystals

Table salt or sodium chloride crystals are great crystals to try if you've never grown crystals before because it's easy to find salt and water (the ingredients), the crystals are non-toxic, and no special equipment is required. Let's get started!

Recipe

Table salt - sodium chloride

Water

Clean clear container

Piece of cardboard (optional)

String and pencil or butter knife (optional)

Process

Stir salt into boiling hot water until no more salt will dissolve (crystals start to appear at the bottom of the container). Be sure the water is as close to boiling as possible. Hot tap water is not sufficient for making the solution.

If you want crystals quickly, you can soak a piece of cardboard in this supersaturated salt solution. Once it is soggy, place it on a plate or pan and set it in a warm and sunny location to dry out. Numerous small salt crystals will form.

If you are trying to form a larger, perfect cubic crystal, you will want to make a seed crystal.

To grow a big crystal from a seed crystal, carefully pour the supersaturated salt solution into a clean container (so no undissolved salt gets in), allow the solution to cool, then hang the seed crystal in the solution from a pencil or knife placed across the top of the container. You could cover the container with a coffee filter if you like.

Set the container in a location where it can remain undisturbed. You are more likely to get a perfect crystal instead of a mass of crystals if you allow the crystal to grow slowly (cooler temperature, shaded location) in a place free of vibrations.

Tips:

Experiment with different types of table salt. Try iodized salt, uniodized salt, sea salt, or even salt substitutes. Try using different types of water, such as tap water compared with distilled water. See if there is any difference in the appearance of the crystals.

If you are trying for the 'perfect crystal' use uniodized salt and distilled water. Impurities in either the salt or water can aid dislocation, where new crystals don't stack perfectly on top of previous crystals.

The solubility of table salt (or any kind of salt) increases greatly with temperature. You'll get the quickest results if you start with a saturated saline solution, which means you want to dissolve salt in the hottest water available. One trick to increase the amount of salt you can dissolve is to microwave the salt solution. Stir in more salt until it stops dissolving and starts to accumulate at the bottom of the container. Use the clear liquid to grow your crystals. You can filter out the solids using a coffee filter or paper towel.

https://www.thoughtco.com/growing-table-salt-crystals-607663

https://fthmb.tqn.com/oBaOFS4sYjAPlOJuOHfQZiAYRRQ=/768x0/filters:no_upscale()/salt-crystal-light-micrograph-150950998-58b5ff433df78cdcd8383954.jpg

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Project reference : Work of Karlijn Sibbel

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Epsom Salt Crystals

MgSO₄·7H₂O

http://www.ekaterinaspring.com/uploads/processed/0711/0703141258409saltcrystals.jpg

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Epsom Salt Crystals

Growing crystals can take several days, but this super-easy recipe gives you a cup full of needle, like crystals in just a few hours.

Recipe

Epsom salt

Food coloring

Beaker, cup, or small bowl

Process

In the beaker, stir 1/2 cup of Epsom salts with 1/2 cup of very hot tap water for at least one minute. This creates a saturated solution, meaning no more salt can dissolve in the water. (some undissolved crystals will be at the bottom of the glass).

Add a couple drops of food coloring if you want your crystals to be colored.

Put the beaker in the refrigerator if you want small crystals, leave in room temperature for bigger crystals.

Check on it in a few hours to see a beaker full of crystals. Pour off the remaining solution to examine them.

Result

Epsom salt is another name for the chemical magnesium sulfate. The temperature of the water determines how much magnesium sulfate it can hold; it will dissolve more when it is hotter. Cooling the solution rapidly encourages fast crystal growth since there is less room for the dissolved salt in the cooler, denser solution. As the solution cools, the magnesium sulfate atoms run into each other and join together in a crystal structure. Crystals grown this way will be small, thin, and numerous. Left undisturbed, the crystals should last months or more.

https://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Crystals-from-Epsom-Salt

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Salt-Crystals

https://learning-center.homesciencetools.com/article/make-fast-growing-crystals/

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Borax Crystals

Na₂B₄O₇10H₂O

http://www.danslelakehouse.com/2015/01/diy-borax-crystals.html

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Borax Crystals

Recipe

Powdered Borax

Pipe cleaners (white, or the colour of the crystal you want to make - the fuzzier the better)

Heat proof glass container

Measuring spoon

Scissors

Thread

Food colouring

Pencil or food skewer

Process

9 tablespoons of borax dissolved in 3 cups of water.

Bring 2 liters water to boil in a glass, heat proof container/beaker.

Optional: Add the food colouring.

Add enough borax to create a saturated solution.

Suspend the pipe cleaner form on a string immediately.

Leave the beaker on the element as it cools, the top covered with a cardboard piece to trap in heat.

Let soak overnight (or at least 8 hours), undisturbed

Borax crystals can re-dissolve, so if these get wet - or maybe endure some humid weather - they could de-crystalize.

http://www.danslelakehouse.com/2015/01/diy-borax-crystals.html

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Crystallization

Alum Crystals

AM(SO₄)₂12H₂O

https://learning-center.homesciencetools.com/article/growing-gems-crystal-project/

is the (natural or artificial) process by which a solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some of the ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, melting, or more rarely deposition directly from a gas. Attributes of the resulting crystal depend largely on factors such as temperature, air pressure, and in the case of liquid crystals, time of fluid evaporation.

Crystal formation can be divided into two types, where the first type of crystals are composed of a cation and anion, also known as a salt, such as sodium acetate. The second type of crystals are composed of uncharged species, for example menthol.^[1]

Crystal formation can be achieved by various methods, such as: cooling, evaporation, addition of a second solvent to reduce the solubility of the solute (technique known as antisolvent or drown-out), solvent layering, sublimation, changing the cation or anion, as well as other methods.

The formation of a supersaturated solution does not guarantee crystal formation, and often a seed crystal or scratching the glass is required to form nucleation sites.

A typical laboratory technique for crystal formation is to dissolve the solid in a solution in which it is partially soluble, usually at high temperatures to obtain supersaturation. The hot mixture is then filtered to remove any insoluble impurities. The filtrate is allowed to slowly cool. Crystals that form are then filtered and washed with a solvent in which they are not soluble, but is miscible with the mother liquor. The process is then repeated to increase the purity in a technique known as recrystallization.

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Alum Crystals

Recipe:�Alum

Clean beaker or jar�Saucer or shallow dish (a petri dish works, too)�Pencil�Fishing line

�Process:

In one beaker, slowly add alum to 1/4 cup of very hot tap water, stirring to dissolve. Keep adding the alum until no more will dissolve: this is a saturated solution. Pour a little bit of this solution into a shallow dish or saucer and let it sit undisturbed overnight. Make sure you only pour the clear solution, not any of the undissolved material. (You can pour it through a coffee filter if necessary.)�The next day you should see small crystals growing in the dish. When they look to be a good size, carefully pour off the solution.�Make another saturated alum solution with about 1/2 cup of hot water. Pour the solution into a clean beaker or jar; avoid pouring any undissolved material.�Remove the biggest and best-looking of the small crystals from the saucer to use as your seed crystal.�Tie the fishing line to the seed crystal. This can be tricky; a pair of tweezers will help. If you need to, you can score a groove in the crystal to hold the line in place.�Tie the other end of the fishing line to a pencil, then set the pencil across the top of the jar so the seed crystal is suspended in the alum solution without touching the sides or bottom of the jar.

Note: if your seed crystal starts to dissolve, that means your solution isn’t saturated enough. Remove the seed quickly and add more alum to the solution, filtering off any undissolved particles.�Cover the jar with a paper towel to keep out the dust and let your crystal grow until you are happy with its size. When you take it out of the solution, set it on some plastic wrap to dry.

If you see other crystals growing in the jar, transfer the solution and seed crystal to another clean jar.��

The small crystals that formed in the saucer grew because of nucleation. A few alum molecules found each other in the solution and joined together in a crystal pattern. Other alum molecules continued to join them until enough molecules gathered to become a visible crystalline solid. (Chemists call that a crystal “falling out of” the solution.) If you left these crystals in the solution they would continue to grow, but they wouldn’t get very big because they would all be competing for the remaining alum molecules in the solution. Instead, you took one crystal and used it as the only nucleation site in the solution. It was the primary site for the alum molecules to join together, so the crystal could grow quite large.��

https://learning-center.homesciencetools.com/article/growing-gems-crystal-project/

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Piezoelectric Crystals

https://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/09/Quartz-Br%C3%A9sil-889x757.jpg

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Piezoelectric Crystals

Piezoelectric Crystals produce energy when mechanically stressed, distorted or twisted.

Rochelle Salt crystals, which can produce a comparatively large voltage upon compression and which are one of the first known natural materials found to exhibit piezoelectricity. The tutorial is based on instructions found on rimstar.org

Recipe

200g Potassium Bitartrate (Cream of Tartar) 120g Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda or Soda Ash) or 120g Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) 250ml Distilled Water Beaker 500ml Pot Coffee Filter Filter Paper Thermometer Stove Small and Large Spoon Gloves Clear Containers with Lid

Process

Sodium Bicarbonate to Sodium Carbonate

The first step is to convert the sodium bicarbonate into sodium carbonate. If sodium carbonate has been acquired in the first place this step can be skipped. For the transformation the hydrogen of the Sodium Bicarbonate has to be removed. This is done by spreading the powder onto a baking tray or similar and heating it in the oven at 150°C for at least 1 hour. Occasionally the powder should be stirred to guarantee equal heating.

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Piezoelectric Crystals

Base Solution

200g of potassium bitartrate are slowly mixed into 250ml of distilled water. The solution has to be thoroughly stirred during all times so that all particles are equally dissolved and no sediment occurs on the bottom of the beaker.

Finish Solution

The beaker needs to be placed inside a pot filled with 2cm of water. The pot is placed on a stove and slowly heated to about 80°C or until the water starts simmering. While the temperature is kept constant a half teaspoon of sodium carbonate is added to the solution while stirring it. The solution will fizz and bubble and continuous further stirring is essential. This procedure is repeated until no more bubbles occur when adding the sodium carbonate and the solution has turned yellowish clear.

Filter Solution

While still hot the solution is poured through the coffee filter into another beaker of the same size. The beaker is placed back onto the stove and heated further to evaporate some of the solution and concentrate it. It is then filtered a final time and poured into clear containers which are closed with the lid. The mixture then needs to be kept in a cool place for several days.

Sound

When connected to an EL-Driver, which converts 12V DC to 140V AC at 400Hz, the crystal emits an audible humming sound.

http://materiability.com/portfolio/piezoelectric-crystals/

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Silicon Crystals

₁₄Si

http://www.ghi.rwth-aachen.de/www/images/keramik/SiC.jpg

Hazardous!

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Silicon Crystals

Silicon makes up a quarter of the earth's crust by weight, and is found in most minerals, including sand. However, silicon does not exist in a free state; it is always in combination with other elements. Purification processes vary according to the use intended for the silicon, from glass to hyperpure silicon used for solid-state devices in electronics. There are several ways to make silicon crystals from sand, but only one of them is for DIY chemists, which can be done at home. The other processes involve temperatures over 3632 degrees Fahrenheit.

Recipe

Bunsen burner

Magnesium Powder

3 level teaspoons magnesium powder

3 level teaspoons clean, dry sharp sand

Test tube

Heat-proof gloves

5 cups of cold water

Large laboratory flask

1 cup of muriatic acid

Funnel

Process

Use a Bunsen burner to heat 3 level teaspoons magnesium powder mixed with 3 level teaspoons clean, dry sharp sand (not sand from a beach because of salt contamination) in a test tube. Wear heat-proof gloves if necessary. The magnesium takes oxygen atoms from the sand, leaving elemental silicon along with magnesium, magnesium oxide and magnesium silicide.

Remove from heat prior to purifying the mixture with an acid solution.

Pour 5 cups of cold water into a large laboratory flask. Add 1 cup of muriatic acid. Do not reverse these steps, the acid must be added to the water.

Let the test tube cool for five minutes. Add the contents to the flask, using a funnel if the flask mouth is not wide enough. The reaction will be vigorous; therefore, place the flask on a worktop rather than holding it.

Allow the bubbling, foaming and fumes to settle, which should take less than one minute. The remains in the bottom of the flask are silicon crystals.

Tip

Silicon crystals have a metallic luster and are a grayish color.

The only acid that affects silicon is hydrofluoric.

Warning

It is essential to add acid to water and not water to acid to avoid any danger of steam explosions.

Muriatic acid is highly corrosive. Although readily available from hardware stores, it must be used with caution.

https://sciencing.com/make-silicon-crystals-sand-11367401.html

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Copper Sulfate Crystals

CuSO₄ 5H₂O

http://www.crystalenergyhealing.ca/testimonials.php

Hazardous!

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Copper Sulphate Crystals

Copper sulfate crystals are among the easiest and most beautiful crystals you can grow. The brilliant blue crystals can be grown relatively quickly and can become relatively large.

Recipe

Copper Sulphate

Water

Jar or beaker

Process

Make a saturated copper sulfate solution:

Stir copper sulfate into very hot water until no more will dissolve.

You can just pour the solution into a jar and wait a few days for crystals to grow, but if you grow a seed crystal, you can get much larger and better-shaped crystals.

Grow a seed crystal:

Pour a little of the saturated copper sulfate solution into a saucer or shallow dish. Allow it to sit in an undisturbed location for several hours or overnight. Select the best crystal as your 'seed' for growing a large crystal. Scrape the crystal off of the container and tie it to a length of nylon fishing line.

Growing a large crystal:

Suspend the seed crystal in a clean jar that you have filled with the solution you made earlier. Don't allow any undissolved copper sulfate to spill into the jar. Don't let the seed crystal touch the sides or bottom of the jar.

Place the jar in a location where it won't be disturbed. You can set a coffee filter or paper towel over the top of the container, but allow air circulation so that the liquid can evaporate.

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Copper Sulphate Crystals

Check the growth of your crystal each day. If you see crystals starting to grow on the bottom, sides, or top of the container then remove the seed crystal and suspend it in a clean jar. Pour the solution into this jar. You don't want 'extra' crystals growing because they will compete with your crystal and will slow its growth.

When you are pleased with your crystal, you can remove it from the solution and allow it to dry.

Tips & Safety

Even a small increase in the temperature of the water will greatly affect the amount of copper sulfate

(CuS0₄ . 5H₂0) that will dissolve.

Copper sulfate is harmful if swallowed and can irritate skin and mucous membranes. In case of contact, rinse skin with water. If swallowed, give water and call a physician.

Copper sulfate pentahydrate crystals contain water, so if you want to store your finished crystal, keep it in a sealed container. Otherwise, water will evaporate from the crystals, leaving them dull and powdery. The gray or greenish powder is the anhydrous form of copper sulfate.

Copper sulfate is used in copper plating, blood tests for anemia, in algicides and fungicides, in textile manufacturing, and as a desiccant.

https://www.thoughtco.com/copper-sulfate-crystals-606228

http://www.iaacblog.com/programs/crystallisation/

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Copper Crystals

₂₉ Cu

http://www.iaacblog.com/programs/copper-crystals/

Hazardous!

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Copper Crystals

Recipe - I

Pure Copper cathode

Impure Copper anode

Battery (variable Voltage)

Copper Sulfate solution

Process - I

Copper crystals can be grown by using an electrolysis system. To do so, set up with an impure copper anode, a pure copper cathode, and fill the tank with a copper sulfate solution. The liquid is then charged by the applied voltage from the battery. Over time the copper particles in the solution will begin to collect and aggregate around the pure copper anode. The amount of crystallization is proportional to the voltage applied. The greater voltage that is applied, the more crystallization happens.

The copper crystal growth occurs in a dendritic, or tree-like formation. It is difficult to predict the resultant shape, as the growth is random in a radial pattern.

http://www.iaacblog.com/programs/copper-crystals/

Recipe - II

Copper Sulfate solution

Sodium Chloride

Zinc

Process - II

Pour two big spoons of of copper sulfate pentahydrate CuSO4·5H2O into a vial.

Add 10 drops of water.

Pour in 3 big spoons of sodium chloride NaCl.

Take a bottle with zinc Zn pellets.

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Copper Crystals

Put 3 pellets on top of sodium chloride NaCl.

Slowly drip water into the vial, until the salt becomes wet throughout (about 40 drops).

Note: if you drip too fast, it may cause an air plug, and the reaction won’t go.

In a day, you’ll see a copper tree growing in the vial.

In 3–4 days, the tree will become even larger!

Result

In a week in the depths of the salt a copper crystal grows, bending around salt crystals and taking an odd shape, similar to a tree branch. If a zinc pellet is put into a copper sulfate solution, it will soon be covered with a thin layer of copper. In this case, the following reaction takes place:

Zn + CuSO4 → ZnSO4 + Cu

This reaction is of oxidation-reduction type, which means, that the main role in this reaction belongs to electrons. Electrons move from Zn, giving zinc ion Zn2+, to copper ion Cu2+ in copper sulfate, turning it into metallic copper, which covers the zinc pellet.

Zn0 – 2e → Zn2+ Cu2+ + 2e → Cu0

The chemistry behind our experiment is the same, the only thing that has changed is the presence of salt sodium chloride NaCl. It separates zinc pellets from copper sulfate, which makes the reaction rate slower. Slower reaction rate means that the metallic copper, which forms during the experiment, has enough time to arrange its atoms into beautiful shiny branchy crystals. This is how the copper tree grows.

https://melscience.com/en/experiments/copper-tree/

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Bio-Reclaim

Calcium/Phosphate

Ca₅(PO₄)₃OH

http://www.iaacblog.com/projects/bio_reclaim/

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Calcium/Phosphate Crystals

Recipe

1 x 200L tank (100x50x40)

1 x Digitally fabricated Galvanized Steel 3D Voronoi wireframe structure

10 x 50mmx2mm flat aluminium rods - anode

175 L Premixed Seawater Medium

4KG MonoCalcium Phosphate

3KG Calcium

3 x Transparent cables

3 x alligator wires

Electrical tape | HeatShrink eletrical tubes

12v power supply

Stirring rod

Gram scale

Digital calipers

Measuring Cups

Mixing Containers

Solder

Prepare the custom precipitation liquid.

Prepare the different solutions that would make up the variable matrix. Each Containment will hold 1.5 Litres of the Seawater Medium. (images on the left with different proportions)

http://www.iaacblog.com/projects/bio_reclaim/

Bio_reClaim is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in Advanced Architecture 1(MAA01) in (2015-16) by:Students:Lalin Keyvan, Christopher Wong, Robert Staples, Abdullah Ibrahim, Luis Bonilla, Jonathan Irawan Faculty:Claudia Pasquero (Introductory Studio Tutor) Carmelo Zappulla (Introductory Studio Tutor)Maria Kupstova (Introductory Studio Assistant)

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Calcium/Phosphate Crystals

Process

Fabricate 3D Structures

Model the desired structure in a 3D modelling program i.e. Rhinoceros, otherwise by hand.

Create blue print of unrolled surfaces/shapes with angles of bending specified.

Create the structure by bending Galvanized steel wires according to the angles of the respective polygons.

Solder the ends for stability.

Combine the forms, based on the digital model.

Prepare the custom precipitation liquid.

Prepare the solution for the large tank. For this experiment we will fill the tank with 175L of the seawater medium. The mineral composition will then be mixed as specified as below.

2.1.5 Seawater Medium + 1000g Calcium + 1333g Phosphate

Set up the Containment and Circuit

Place the Structure into the mixed solution. Ensure that the structure is fully covered by the medium. Clip aluminium anode with alligator clip and insert into one end of the tank. Attach the the cathode end of the circuit into the voronoi structure. Adjust positions of the anode and wireframe so that they are not touching. Run the Circuit.

Run system for 96 hours.

Every 12 hours, turn off the power supply and disengage the anode from the tank. Record growth and remark if appearance of wireframes has changed. Record observations. Replace the sacrificial anode if necessary.

After 96 hours have elapsed, disconnect system from power. Remove wireframes from tanks and allow to dry for 24 hours.

Record qualitative observations about appearance, texture and physical resilience.

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Crystallization

Crystals on leds

KAI(PO₄)₂

https://www.instructables.com/id/Growing-Crystals-on-LEDs-and-ETextiles/

is the (natural or artificial) process by which a solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some of the ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, melting, or more rarely deposition directly from a gas. Attributes of the resulting crystal depend largely on factors such as temperature, air pressure, and in the case of liquid crystals, time of fluid evaporation.

Crystal formation can be divided into two types, where the first type of crystals are composed of a cation and anion, also known as a salt, such as sodium acetate. The second type of crystals are composed of uncharged species, for example menthol.^[1]

Crystal formation can be achieved by various methods, such as: cooling, evaporation, addition of a second solvent to reduce the solubility of the solute (technique known as antisolvent or drown-out), solvent layering, sublimation, changing the cation or anion, as well as other methods.

The formation of a supersaturated solution does not guarantee crystal formation, and often a seed crystal or scratching the glass is required to form nucleation sites.

A typical laboratory technique for crystal formation is to dissolve the solid in a solution in which it is partially soluble, usually at high temperatures to obtain supersaturation. The hot mixture is then filtered to remove any insoluble impurities. The filtrate is allowed to slowly cool. Crystals that form are then filtered and washed with a solvent in which they are not soluble, but is miscible with the mother liquor. The process is then repeated to increase the purity in a technique known as recrystallization.

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Recipe:

Materials:

Aluminium potassium sulphate (alum)�Conductive fabric�Conductive thread�Fabric base�Surface mount device (SMD) LEDs and/or addressable LEDs�Gel pen or chalk (for drawing the circuit)�Jewellery wire�Insulated wire�Copper tape�Bonding material such as Bondaweb or Heat 'N' Bond (to glue the circuit)�Superglue�Clear nail varnish�Tools:

Domestic iron�Soldering iron and solder �Hand sewing needles�Wire cutters�Scissors�Weighing scales�A large bucket/tub (preferably clear plastic so you can watch the crystals grow underneath) �Measuring jug�A pan and stove

Crystals with leds and E-Textiles

This instructable is taken from a project called eTextile Crystallography, a collaboration between Rachel Freire and Melissa Coleman.

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Process:

Preparing the electronics and making the circuit:

You will need to start by hacking your LEDs so you can sew them to the circuit. We soldered small loops of wire on to the solder pads so they can be stitched to the fabric circuit using conductive thread.�Dab on a bit of flux to make soldering SMD LEDs easier. Don't overheat the LEDs with your iron. Test your LEDs with a coin cell battery once you're done.�Making the circuit: the tech and the sewing�We made two different circuits to figure out the process and the aesthetics of using different types of LED technology in combination with the crystals: SMD LEDs and programmable LEDs. The SMD LEDs are not programmable so require only two connections for power. The addressable LEDs need in total eight connections for each LED: clock (in/out), power (GND and 5V on both sides) and data (in/out).�Our SMD LED circuit contained 7 LEDs (four with soldered loops and three soldered to copper tape) with in total 14 connections to sew or solder.�Our addressable LED circuit had 2 LEDs with in total 12 connections to sew. It's 12 rather than 16 because you don't have to connect the end of the last addressable LED in the circuit.�Draw the circuits on your fabric using a gel pen and iron on conductive fabric or stitch with conductive thread. Stitch on the LEDs using the soldered loops and make sure all connections are strong and secure.�We also soldered loops to small pieces of wire to connect to power. We made the SDM LED circuit connect to a coin cell battery, and the addressable LED circuit connect to a microcontroller. In principle both types can easily be controlled by a microcontroller, but with the addressable circuit you won't have any lights unless you drive it with signals. With the SMD LED circuit the microcontroller is optional.

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Testing the circuit:

Check everything is working and the connections are stable.. next we seal the electronics and it's hard to go back.

Prepare the circuit for a bath waterproofing and starter crystals:

To grow the crystal the whole sample will need to be submerged in water.�Use clear nail varnish to paint all the exposed metal to seal it and protect it from the corrosive salt. Paint the wire loops, the LEDs themselves and any exposed metal. On an earlier sample with copper-based connections the connection between the LED and wires started corroding over a matter of days once they were crystallised. On the silver-based circuits it's probably not as urgent but these materials definitely degrade over time so sealing them does help preserve them better regardless. As there are so many factors that can make an e-textile circuit unstable you really want to use all options you have to make your circuit more reliable.�To have more control over where your crystals grow, and to make sure they grow on your LEDs, you can use starter crystals. These are small crystals you make yourself using the same process we'll use to crystallise these samples, but without any material to grow it on. Use superglue to stick single crystals or clusters to each place you want a larger crystal to grow.

Growing the crystals:

Measure out the aluminum sulphate and water. We used 70gr / 100ml but this is by no means an exact measure. The main goal is to oversaturate the water with the salt. Many instructions for making crystals will tell you that when your solution is oversaturated the salt will stop dissolving but you might never reach a super clear moment where you're sure of that. Embrace the uncertainty.�Heat the water up in a pan and slowly add the aluminum sulphate so it dissolves. Stir until all the crystals have dissolved completely. The warmer the solution the more salt it can hold so the easier the salt dissolves in it. This is a good way of over saturating the water as the water will not be able to hold the same amount of salt as it cools down and will start attaching itself to any surface it can find.�

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Fill a tub with your solution while filtering out any remaining crystals and gently place your fabric face down in the water. Our material floated, but a more porous fabric with a large weave might sink, so you may want to prepare some scaffolding in advance! A sample on the bottom will just stick to the bottom and have a flat surface rather than the nice crystal shaped one you're aiming for.�When the fabric is suspended in the water the crystals will grow all around, but since the crystals can form anywhere they will also start in other places and sink to the bottom and then start colonising that space as crystals like to attach to others of their kind. In our case, we wanted as little growth as possible on the back of the fabric so kept it suspended on the surface of the water.�Here is where it becomes interesting.�We found that the more you move the fabric or tub, the smaller the crystals become. This is because each time the liquid is disturbed by vibrations, new crystals effectively form in the liquid. This means if the fabric stays completely still you will get large clear crystalline structures with flat triangular surfaces. If you disrupt the water even slightly during the process the effect will be more fragmented and powdery.�This can only be controlled to a certain extent, but with some practice the crystals can be manipulated and grown in layers to achieve different effects.

Finished samples:

Our tiny SMD LED crystals look beautiful and the LEDs completely disappeared under the crystals. The two colours you see are from warm white and cold white LEDs as we decided to test both kinds in the sample to see how they compared.�The addressable LEDs were not so magical. They were just the ones we happened to have available for testing, and it was hard to get enough crystals to grow to cover the large board. If we had left them in the water long enough, they would have been covered, but the whole fabric would have become thick with crystals as we were also still figuring out the crystallising process. Definitely need to try this with smaller PCBs.�Playing with how the crystals grow and how the starter crystals effect it is part of the fun. Combine this with different concentrations of solution, time in the water and stillness/vibrations and you can engineer a crystal fabric.

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Sulfur Crystals

₁₆S

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Sulfur Crystals

Some crystals form from a melted solid rather than a saturated solution. An example of an easy-to-grow crystal from a hot melt is sulfur. Sulfur forms bright yellow crystals that spontaneously change form.

Recipe

Sulfur [find online]

Bunsen Burner

Spoon

Process

Heat a spoonful of sulfur powder in the burner flame. You want the sulfur to melt rather than burn, so avoid letting it get too hot. Sulfur melts into a red liquid. If it gets too hot, it will burn with a blue flame. Remove the sulfur from the flame as soon as it liquefies.
Once removed from the flame, the sulfur will cool from the hot melt into needles of monoclinic sulfur. These crystals will spontaneously transition into rhomic needles within a few hours.

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-make-sulfur-crystals-606254

https://www.thoughtco.com/colors-of-sulfur-3976102

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Toluene Crystals

C₇H₈

http://chem.pieceofscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/sira2.jpg

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Toluene Crystals

Recipe

1L of cold toluene

vertical graduated cylinder

50-100g of fairly pure (at least 99%) sulfur flour.

aluminum foil

hot plate

Pot

Process

Pouring about 1L of cold toluene in a large vertical graduated cylinder (almost to the top), then added about 50-100g of fairly pure (at least 99%) sulfur flour. I sealed the top of the vessel with 2 layers of aluminum foil (the liquid must not contact the aluminum- Sulfur will corrode the aluminum). I then insulated the bottom 2/3rds of the vessel, and put it on a hot plate. I attempted to use a heat sink on the top of the vessel, but it was not necessary. Airflow over the top of the vessel was created with a fan- The top of the vessel must be cooled. Then, place the vessel on a hot plate, and tilt the vessel and hot plate a few degrees- This will assist convection and internal flow. The hot plate was set for 50*C, and left for a few days. Over this time, convection occurred, and hot saturated toluene precipitated sulfur once it cooled. The hottest liquid must not exceed 46*C, otherwise thin, prismatic crystals will have a chance of forming. The lower the 'hot' temperature, the slower the crystals will form, but the clearer they will be (most crystals will have inclusions of toluene, disrupting the crystal structure).

Tips

Large, single crystals are VERY possible, I just wanted super-pure sulfur (achieved by then heating the sulfur below it's melting point, as a powder, to remove all toluene). Lower temperatures, more convection, and purer ingredients will help.

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=20937

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AbyqVFcLsBE/maxresdefault.jpg

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Potassium Nitrate Crystals

KNO₃

https://img.wonderhowto.com/img/89/53/63469578060709/0/sweet-smell-success-diy-smoke-mix-with-sugar-and-potassium-nitrate.w1456.jpg

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Potassium Nitrate Crystals

Recipe

Glass jars

salt substitute (with 37g potassium chloride)

instant cold packs (with 40g ammonium nitrate)

Sugar

coffee filters

100ml Water

tin can

Scale

plastic measuring cups

Process

After carefully cutting the package, I measured out roughly 0.04 kg (40 grams) of ammonium nitrate. My plastic cup was about 20 grams, so I hit 0.06 kg on the scale. After that, in my second cup, I measured just under 0.04 kg of potassium chloride (salt substitute). Just under because I saw that others, like Nurd Rage, were fond of using 37 grams instead of an equal 40.

Then, I poured 100 ml of water into a measuring glass, dumped in the ammonium nitrate, and mixed it together with a wooden chopstick until it was fully dissolved. Next, I poured the salt substitute into my tin can (and old coffee can), placed a coffee filter (how appropriate) on top, and poured in the watery ammonium nitrate solution.

Next up, I dissolved the salt by heating the tin can on my stovetop at a low temperature until the liquid was without any lumps, mixing it with my chopstick.

Once it was ready, I transferred it over to my glass mason jar and threw it in the freezer.

After waiting a couple of hours, I pulled it out and was amazed at the crystals formed at the bottom of the glass jar. I then poured out the remaining liquid (ammonium chloride) and let the potassium nitrate dry.

https://mad-science.wonderhowto.com/how-to/sweet-smell-success-diy-smoke-mix-with-sugar-and-potassium-nitrate-0134482/

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Salicylic Acid Crystals

C₇H₆O₃

http://davestech.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/recently-ive-been-playing-around-with.html

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