Reduced Punch Sticking Propensity of Acesulfame by Salt Formation: Role of Crystal Mechanical Property and Surface Chemistry

Powder adhesion or sticking onto punches is one of the outstanding issues in pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing. We show in this work that, at comparable particle sizes, the acesulfame potassium exhibited pronouncedly reduced propensity to punch sticking than acesulfame. Detailed analyses revealed strong correlation between sticking propensity and crystal mechanical properties and surface chemistry. The free acid was highly plastic with high...