Formation and characterization of struvite crystals grown through gel-growth technique in gelatin

Magnesium ammonium phosphate (MgNH4PO4.6H2O) which is commercially known as struvite is one of the most fascinating fertilizers which has attracted significant attention of the researchers due to its high possibility of occurrence in vast variety of environments. Struvite crystals were also found as urinary calculi in both animals and humans kidneys. Struvite crystals were grown in gelatin employing both double and single diffusion technique in order to simulate the real conditions of kidney in vitro. Struvite crystals within the size range of 0.1 mm to 2.5 mm were grown with different operational conditions and completely characterized. The combination of FT-IR and EDX plus SEM tests proved the harvested crystals are struvite crystals. Comprehensive comparison between the produced crystals revealed that the crystals resulted from double diffusion tests are bigger and their number density also outnumbers that of crystals produced with the single diffusion technique.