Morphology control of KDP crystallites

The actual crystal morphology is synergistically determined by atomic interactions between the crystal surface, growth units and additives in the mother solution. Our present results microscopically show that the ideal crystal morphology is greatly determined by intrinsic characteristics such as the bond number, direction and strength in the crystallographic frame, while ethanol molecules in the mother solution can intensively affect the crystal size and aspect ratio of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP). Some quantitative analyses concerning the addition of ethanol to the KDP solution are also described. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.