Assessment of solute clustering using SAXS/WAXS in both supersaturated liquid bulk solution and crystal-solution boundary layer

The main goal is to study how intermolecular interactions between solute molecules in solution alter when close to a growing crystal consisting of the same chemical compound. This will not only shed light on whether so-called solute clusters are a crucial element in the secondary nucleation pathway, but will also enhance the understanding of nucleation phenomena in general. The existence of solute clusters in supersaturated liquid bulk solution will first be established as a base case. Subsequently, the x-ray beam will be focused on several crystal-solution boundary layers to study how interactions differ from the liquid bulk in the vicinity of the crystal surface.