Explaining electrostatic charging and flow of surface-modified acetaminophen powders as a function of relative humidity through surface energetics.

Powder flow involves particle-particle and particle-vessel contacts and separation resulting in electrostatic charging. This important phenomenon was studied for uncoated and dry-coated micronized acetaminophen (MAPAP) as a function of relative humidity. The main hypothesis is that by modifying powder surface energy via dry coating of MAPAP performed using magnetically assisted impaction coating, its charging tendency, flow can be controlled. The examination of the relationship between electrostatic charging, powder flow, and the surface energies of the powders revealed that an improvement in flow because of dry coating corresponded to a decrease in the charging of the particles. A general trend of reduction in both electrostatic charging and dispersive surface energy with dry coating and relative humidity were also observed, except that a divergent behavior was observed at higher relative humidities (≥55% RH). The uncoated powder was found to have strong electron acceptor characteristic as compared with the dry coated. The adhesion energy between the particles and the tubes used for the electrostatic charging qualitatively predicted the decreasing trend in electrostatic charging from plastic tubes to stainless steel. In summary, the surface energies of the powders and the vessel could explain the electrostatic charging behavior and charge reduction because of dry coating.

Passivation of high-surface-energy sites of milled ibuprofen crystals via dry coating for reduced cohesion and improved flowability.

Ibuprofen micronization with dry coating is investigated to examine its influence on passivation/stabilization of high-surface-energy sites and reduced cohesion. A fluid energy mill was used to micronize ibuprofen particles down to 5-28 µm with or without simultaneous nanosilica coating. Powder flow property and dispersibility were characterized using FT4 powder tester and Rodos/Helos laser diffraction particle sizer. Surface energy was characterized using a next generation inverse gas chromatography instrument. Uncoated micronized ibuprofen showed an increased Lifshitz-van der Waals (LW) dispersion component of surface energy with increasing milling intensity. In contrast, dry-coated milled powders showed a significant reduction in the LW component, whereas physical mixture of uncoated micronized ibuprofen and silica exhibited no reduction in surface energy, indicating that dry coating is necessary for the passivation of high-energy sites of ibuprofen created during micronization. Surface energy of pure micronized ibuprofen was highly heterogeneous, whereas dry-coated ibuprofen had greatly reduced heterogeneity. Micronization with dry coating also improved flowability and bulk density as compared with pure active pharmaceutical ingredient micronization without coating, or just blending with silica. Overall, dry coating leads to decreased cohesion and improved flowability because of reduced LW dispersive component of surface energy and creating nanoscale surface roughness.

Improvement of flow and bulk density of pharmaceutical powders using surface modification.

Improvement in flow and bulk density, the two most important properties that determine the ease with which pharmaceutical powders can be handled, stored and processed, is done through surface modification. A limited design of experiment was conducted to establish a standardized dry coating procedure that limits the extent of powder attrition, while providing the most consistent improvement in angle of repose (AOR). The magnetically assisted impaction coating (MAIC) was considered as a model dry-coater for pharmaceutical powders; ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and ascorbic acid. Dry coated drug powders were characterized by AOR, particle size as a function of dispersion pressure, particle size distribution, conditioned bulk density (CBD), Carr index (CI), flow function coefficient (FFC), cohesion coefficient using different instruments, including a shear cell in the Freeman FT4 powder rheometer, and Hansen flowability index. Substantial improvement was observed in all the measured properties after dry coating relative to the uncoated powders, such that each powder moved from a poorer to a better flow classification and showed improved dispersion. The material intrinsic property such as cohesion, plotted as a function of particle size, gave a trend similar to those of bulk flow properties, AOR and CI. Property improvement is also illustrated in a phase map of inverse cohesion (or FFC) as a function of bulk density, which also indicated a significant positive shift due to dry coating. It is hoped that such phase maps are useful in manufacturing decisions regarding the need for dry coating, which will allow moving from wet granulation to roller compaction or to direct compression based formulations.