This study has investigated the surface coating efficiency and powder flow improvement of a model cohesive acetaminophen powder by high-shear processing with pharmaceutical lubricants through 2 common equipment, conical comil and high-shear mixer. Effects of coating materials and processing parameters on powder flow and surface coating coverage were evaluated. Both Carr's index and shear cell data indicated that processing with the lubricants using comil or high-shear mixer substantially improved the flow of the cohesive acetaminophen powder. Flow improvement was most pronounced for those processed with 1% wt/wt magnesium stearate, from cohesive for the V-blended sample to easy flowing for the optimally coated sample. Qualitative and quantitative characterizations demonstrated a greater degree of surface coverage for high-shear mixing compared with comilling; nevertheless, flow properties of the samples at the corresponding optimized conditions were comparable between 2 techniques. Scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated different coating mechanisms with magnesium stearate or L-leucine (magnesium stearate forms a coating layer and leucine coating increases surface roughness). Furthermore, surface coating with hydrophobic magnesium stearate did not retard the dissolution kinetics of acetaminophen. Future studies are warranted to evaluate tableting behavior of such dry-coated pharmaceutical powders. (C) 2017 American Pharmacists Association (R). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Purdue University
• Shenyang Pharmaceutical University
• University of South Australia, CSIRO Manufacturing (a division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)), Monash University.

• Oral solid dose
• Material and process characterization

1. comil
2. Dissolution
3. high-shear mix
4. Material and process characterization
5. oral solid dose
6. Powder flow
7. Research Article
8. surface coating