University and Tablet Tooling Specialist to Advance Tabletting Science with Anti-Stick Research

I Holland is currently undertaking a two-year research programme to solve a common ‘sticky’ situation in tablet manufacture, with the assistance of Nottingham University’s School of Pharmacy.

TSAR (Tabletting Science Anti-Stick Research) is part of I Holland’s continuous improvement programme, a key element of the company’s PharmaCote range, which offers solutions for sticking, corrosion, pitting and abrasion.

The project has been developed to investigate the cause of formulation sticking. As one of the main problems in tablet manufacture, tablet formulation is a dilemma that causes a lot of down-time and therefore loss of performance and profitability.

Using advanced technology, such as scanning electron microscopy, laser profilometry, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, time flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry and adhesion mapping, I Holland and its partner will investigate what makes formulations stick to tablet tooling surfaces and analyse why certain coatings resist sticking when others do not. Currently, a number of interactions are believed to influence tablet sticking, including Van der Waals forces, capillary action, deformation mechanics and static electricity.

Rob Blanchard, I Holland’s Research, Development and Quality Systems Manager, said: “Sticking is the most prolific problem within the tablet manufacture industry and causes many hours of downtime and reduces productivity. I Holland has seen increasing requests for assistance in solving sticking problems and we hope that the TSAR project will put an end to this complex phenomenon. The aim of I Holland’s research and development team is to speed response times to solving customers’ problems, ultimately offering better customer service.”

I Holland Ltd, +44 115 972 6153, info@iholland.co.uk, www.iholland.co.uk.