Surface Properties and the Manufacturability of Pharmaceutical Powders

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The manufacturability of pharmaceutical products is known to be closely linked to the specifications of the end solid dosage form in the sense that the purity, stability, dissolution etc. are characteristics to be always met in the pharmaceutical industry. The knowledge gap that is faced in current times is trying to link surface properties such as surface energies of organic solids to the bulk behaviours of the material, such as flow or electrostatics. In this scenario, organic solids are much more challenging to characterise, because of the intermolecular weak van der Waals interactions that arise when such a system is developed. Furthermore, the behaviour of the multiple components of powders that constitute a final pharmaceutical product during processing, is a complex function that is amplified by the equipment used for production within the industry (i.e. using metal columns may lead to the material in question picking up charge very easily, for instance, in turn affecting its flowability). The aim of this PhD research project is to investigate and understand how surface properties of pharmaceutical solids influence the bulk behaviour of the material and what effect this will have on the processing and scale up stages of production of the end product.