Calcium oxalate crystal growth modification; investigations with confocal Raman microscopy

Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM) in combination with a photophysical investigation has been employed to give insight into the interaction between calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) and a series of tetrazole containing crystal growth modifier's (CGM's), in conjunction with characterisation of morphological changes using scanning electron and optical microscopy. The tetrazole CGM's were found to interact by surface adsorption with minimal morphological changes to the COM crystals however, significant interactions via chemisorption were observed; it was discovered that the chemisorption is sufficiently strong for aggregation of the tetrazole species to occur within the crystal during crystallisation.