Adhesion Forces between Pharmaceutical Particles

In this investigation, the affects of dry particle coatings and fillers on the adhesion forces between pharmaceutical particles will be studied. These coatings can affect the adhesion between two particles by changing the material coming into contact as well as changing the roughness of the surfaces. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) will be used to measure the van der Waals interactions between pharmaceutical particles; as well as characterize size, shape and roughness of the particles. The data will then be inserted into a preexisting model to simulate the adhesion forces experienced by each sample. In turn, the information extracted from this model will enable better decisions to be made regarding drug particle coatings. This data will be gathered to contribute to a process in which a pharmaceutical active ingredient can be uniformly distributed, without particle clumping.