Sodium chloride precipitation reaction coefficient from crystallization experiment in a microfluidic device

The crystal growth of sodium chloride from an aqueous solution is studied from evaporation experiments in microfluidic channels in conjunction with analytical and numerical computations. The crystal growth kinetics is recorded using a high speed camera in order to determine the intrinsic precipitation reaction coefficient. The study reveals that the crystal growth rates determined in previous studies are all affected by the ions transport phenomena in the solution and thus not representative of the precipitation reaction. It is suggested that accurate estimate of sodium chloride precipitation reaction coefficient presented here offers new opportunities for a better understanding of important issues involved in the damages of porous materials induced by the salt crystallization.