Novel Analysis Techniques for Particulate ProductsG

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Many materials in common use come in particulate form, including food, pharmaceuticals, coatings, pigments and fertilizers. A frequent quality control problem with such materials is their tendency to form unwanted, lumpy agglomerates from a phenomenon known as CAKING. Over the years this has been combated by using chemicals, known as anti-caking agents. However, new materials on the market are now being produced to higher customer specifications that regard such additional ingredients as contamination. This issue, combined with the storage and transportation at more extreme conditions and the trend towards powders being more concentrated, means that a more systematic study into combatting caking is required. Previous studies looked at caking on a bulk scale, but this study will examine what happens on the particle scale by using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). AFM can map out surfaces on the nanoscale and can also be used to measure the mechanical hardness of particles. The strength of bonds between caked particles can also be measured using AFM and this value can be used to estimate the strength of lumps formed during the caking process. By gaining a greater understanding of the mechanisms of caking, companies will be able to to produce better powdered products that should be more resistant to caking, as well as formulations that would normally be incompatible with anti-caking agents.