title: Solid Separation from a Mixed Suspension through Electric-Field-Enhanced Crystallization.
abstract: When applied to a pure component suspension in an apolar solvent, a strong inhomogeneous electric field induces particle movement, and the particles are collected at the surface of one of the two electrodes. This new phenomenon was used to separately isolate two organic crystalline compounds, phenazine and caffeine, from their suspension in 1,4-dioxane. First, crystals of both compounds were collected at different electrodes under the influence of an electric field. Subsequent cooling crystallization enabled the immobilization and growth of the particles on the electrodes, which were separately collected after the experiment with purities greater than 91 %. This method can be further developed into a technique for crystal separation and recovery in complex multicomponent suspensions of industrial processes.
authors.affiliation: Process and Energy Department, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wei W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Process and Energy Department, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB, Delft, The Netherlands.|Current Address: School of Engineering, Institute for Materials and Processes, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FB, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Radacsi
authors.affiliation: Process and Energy Department, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Herman J M
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Process and Energy Department, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628 CB, Delft, The Netherlands.|Energetic Materials, TNO, P.O. Box 45, 2280 AA, Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Antoine E D M
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: van der Heijden
authors.affiliation: EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallisation (CMAC), Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS), Technology and Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde, 99 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RD, UK.
authors.forename: Joop H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ter Horst
keywords: crystal engineering; dielectrophoresis; electrophoresis; multicomponent mixtures; separation technology