Crystallization and Precipitation in Life-Science, (Bio)polymer and Recycling Industries

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Crystallization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 718

Editors


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Guest Editor
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
Interests: phase equilibria; thermoanalytical techniques; process monitoring and design; separation of fine chemicals, large scale industrial products and renewable resources; innovative separation concepts; enantiomers; multi-component mixtures
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Guest Editor
Sulzer Chemtech Ltd., Allschwil, Switzerland
Interests: melt crystallization; equipment development for distillation; crystallization and mechanical separation; hybrid process development and upscaling; development of sustainable processes for recycling and waste treatment; crystallization process modelling; measurement technology development and integration as well as advanced control strategies
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Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Process Systems Engineering, Otto-von-Guericke University, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
Interests: phase equilibria; thermodynamics; thermal process engineering; depolymerization and circular economy; multi-component mixtures; process simulation and modelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Crystallization and precipitation are important unit operations for the purification of products and product design in the manufacturing pipeline of pharmaceutical, agrochemical, food, cosmetics, and recycling industries, among others. The latter especially has grown in importance in recent years due to global trends towards sustainability and a circular economy. Recycling and substituting fossil-based feed streams with renewable alternatives, oftentimes result in complex multi-component mixtures as additives or additional impurities are inherent to such material sources. This leads to more complex phase behaviour and thus, more demanding purification tasks utilizing crystallization and precipitation processes essentially in alignment with upstream reactions and adjacent separation processes.

Therefore, we are looking to compile impactful novel research on the utilization of crystallization and/or precipitation for life-science, (bio-)polymer, and recycling applications in this Special Issue. These may range from fundamental phase equilibria, kinetics, and crystallography to innovative process monitoring, design, and optimization. Of additional interest are product design solutions related to particle size and shape as well as molecular weight distributions for (bio-)polymers. Some keywords to guide the authors are provided; however, contributions not covered, but valuable to the Special Issue’s topic are welcome and encouraged as well.

Prof. Dr. Heike Lorenz
Dr. Erik Temmel
Guest Editors

Dr. Vico Tenberg
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • phase equilibria
  • recycling processes
  • circular economy
  • biopolymer processing and valorization
  • sustainable process engineering
  • innovative crystallization and precipitation process concepts
  • industrial applications

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 4337 KB  
Article
Understanding the Impact of Different Nucleation Strategies on Bis(2-hydroxyethyl) Terephthalate Crystallization from a Glycolysis Reaction Mixture
by Lukas Seppelfricke, Henning Loos, Leonard Sander, Louisa-Marie Möller and Kerstin Wohlgemuth
Crystals 2026, 16(6), 356; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst16060356 - 22 May 2026
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Abstract
The recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is gaining increasing importance, as it enables the conversion of plastic waste into valuable raw materials and contributes to a circular economy. Recent research has primarily focused on optimizing the depolymerization step of PET glycolysis, while downstream [...] Read more.
The recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is gaining increasing importance, as it enables the conversion of plastic waste into valuable raw materials and contributes to a circular economy. Recent research has primarily focused on optimizing the depolymerization step of PET glycolysis, while downstream processes often overlook what are at least equally critical downstream steps in recovering the monomer bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). The implementation of a water-free PET glycolysis process eliminates challenges related to internal solvent and homogeneous catalyst recycling that commonly occur in conventional processes. This study, therefore, focuses on BHET crystallization and filtration as key downstream unit operations. Two nucleation strategies, gassing and seeding, were investigated and compared with experiments without a nucleation strategy. The aim was to achieve reproducible process control during crystallization and to obtain crystals with good filterability, which can be critical for subsequent steps in the product purification process. Experiments without a nucleation strategy showed poor reproducibility. In contrast, gassing and seeding improved crystallization control, particularly regarding nucleation temperature and relative crystallization yield. However, these strategies also resulted in significantly prolonged filtration times due to differences in filter cake properties. The anisotropic crystals exhibited a broad particle size distribution with a high fraction of fine particles, leading to small and heterogeneous pores in the filter cake. Limited crystal growth was identified as the main cause of the unfavorable filtration behavior. Full article
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