Original Articles
V B Suryawanshi, R T Chaudhari
Abstract
Calcium oxalate is one of the most common constituents of renal calculi. Large numbers of investigators have designed experiments to study the formation of these crystals and effect of various substances on their growth rate. Gel method is the most versatile and simple technique for growing urinary crystals. Literature reports the growth of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals in silica gel, in gelatin gel, but did not found in agar gel. Thus, the calcium oxalate monohydrate (CaC2O4.H2O) crystals were grown in agar gel using single diffusion method. The effects of neutral gel on the growth of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals have been studied. The grown crystals were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Energy dispersive X-ray analysis. In the present study it was found that, the neutral gel controls the nucleation density and increases the size of the calcium oxalate monohydrate.