Effect of L-valine impurity on the nucleation parameters of aqueous L-glutamic acid solutions from metastable zone width data

Effect of L-valine on the metastable zone width (MSZW) of aqueous L-glutamic acid solutions saturated at 45 °C at various cooling rates was studied and examined by using various models based on the classical nucleation theory. From the MSZW data for each impurity concentration, values of the pre-exponential nucleation factor and interfacial energy were determined and discussed. It was found that the value of MSZW of the aqueous L-glutamic acid solutions is associated with heterogeneous nucleation and the value of the interfacial energy increases with impurity concentration.