Everyone should be familiar with processes that precipitate materials shaped as spheres, cubes, rods and needles.

It is also not unusual to see rhombohedra, whiskers, tubes, flowers and rosette particles of inorganic/organic materials in the nano- or micron-scale.

But, how about an Aspirin® pill-shaped, micron-size particle?

You know - round, with slightly out-curving sides; i.e., biconvex.

Image

Never seen that kind of a precipitate?

Synthesis of monodisperse, biconvex pill-shaped microparticles, microtablets or micropills, precipitated directly from an aqueous solution, has not yet been reported for any natural or man-made materials.

Find a link here (A. C. Tas, Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Technol., 6, 53-59, 2009 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-7402.2008.02252.x/full)

to synthesize such micropills of CaCO3, which is a biocompatible and non-toxic material.

 

Such micropills may find numerous applications from biomaterials to electronics, and MEMS applications as well.

 

Contact: Prof. A. Cuneyt Tas, PhD   c_tas@hotmail.com         www.cuneyttas.com