Related Articles Effect of particle properties on the flowability of ibuprofen powders. Int J Pharm. 2008 Jul 4; Authors: Liu LX, Marziano I, Bentham AC, Litster JD, E T White , Howes T Powder flowability is one of the key parameters in the pharmaceutical tabletting process. The flowability is affected by both the particles' properties and the tabletting equipment characteristics. Although it is generally accepted that powder flowability increases with an increase in particle size, quantitative studies and comprehensive theoretical insights into the particle property effects are still lacking. In this paper, ibuprofen, a non-steroidal drug widely used as an anti-inflammatory analgesic was chosen as a model material to assess the effect of particle properties on its flowability. Ibuprofen typically has a needle shaped morphology. The flowability of ibuprofen size fractions was studied in detail using two flow measurement methods. The separated fractions were also compared to magnesium stearate lubricated ibuprofen and its size fractions. The experimental results showed that powder flowability is significantly affected by both the particle size and size distribution. The finest size fraction that is separated from the bulk ibuprofen powder flows better than the bulk powder. For powders with narrow size distributions, the flowability increases significantly with the increase in particle size. In addition, admixing magnesium stearate to ib ...
Anytime
