We are pleased to announce the release of our new application note ‘Variability in Fumed Silica Powders’.
Fumed silica is routinely used as a flow aid in industries such as food and pharmaceutical due to its chemical inertness, as well as wide availability in multiple grades. However, the properties of these grades vary and it can’t be assumed that they will all have the same influence on bulk behaviour when blended with a wide array of different substrates and other additional components.
A robust method of quantifying the effect of different grades of fumed silica and the influence that has on performance in a manufacturing operation enables a design space of acceptable properties for raw materials and blends to be established. In the pharmaceutical industry in particular, this approach is fundamental to Quality by Design (QbD) but relies on material characterisation techniques that provide repeatable, robust and relevant data.