Crystallization is one of the most established unit operations in chemical engineering, but it is yet to be fully understood. Crystallization is often used to separate and purify high value-added products, such as drugs and biomolecules. Many food products have a crystalline nature and are obtained via crystallization processes; chocolate and ice cream to name a few. The physico-chemical properties of the crystals that characterize a pharmaceutical or food product have a dramatic effect on the functional properties of the product itself, such as solubility, bioavailability and organoleptic profiles. Controlling crystal properties during crystallization, but also engineering novel crystalline materials with tailored functionality is essential for the pharmaceutical and food industries. By combining experimental techniques and theoretical modelling, the aims of research on crystallization are to develop new techniques to control crystal properties (morphology, size and crystal structure) and to design novel crystalline materials (salts, co-crystals, soft matter) with tailored and improved functional properties.
