New Discovery Challenges Longstanding Theories of Crystal Formation

The team behind the research used advanced imaging and modeling techniques to observe the crystallization process at a molecular level, where they found that the solvent’s properties dictate the way molecules align and grow into structured crystals. This contradicts the traditional belief, which held that solutes were the primary force behind crystal formation. Scientists suggest that this finding could lead to more efficient methods for designing materials with specific crystal structures, potentially accelerating innovations in everything from drug development to energy storage​