Preface--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

a Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
b BASF Advanced Chemicals, China
c University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
d BASF SE, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany

10.1016/j.partic.2019.02.001

Volume 44, June 2019, Pages 1-2

Available online 30 April 2019, Version of Record 30 April 2019.

E-mail: nyang@ipe.ac.cn

Highlights

Abstract

The international conference Formula IX was held on 15–18 October, 2017 in Beijing, China, organized by Institute of Process Engineering of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Society of Particuology. This special issue “Particles Meet Formulation” in Particuology integrates selected papers of this conference contributing to multiscale approaches for description of formulation processes and complex targeted properties, aiming to reflect the state of art and cutting-edge technologies in this field.

The series of Formula conferences has a long history—first organized in France (Nice, 1987; Toulouse, 1990; La Grande Motte, 2001), and then acquired a full European dimension (London, 2005; Berlin, 2007; Stockholm, 2010; Mulhouse, 2013; Barcelona, 2016). An overview of history and impact of the previous conferences is summarized by Durand et al. (2019) in this special issue.

Formula IX was the first conference of this series held in China addressing the increasing importance of this topic for Chinese industry and academia. The focus theme of Formula IX was Multiscale Structures and Functionalities for Future Formulation. This new type of formulations should meet the clear trend towards more complex materials which exhibit superior and often multiple functionalities in the market. Examples therefore are battery materials, printing inks, catalysts, cosmetics or pharmaceutical formulations. These kinds of materials have to be formulated on different levels, ranging from molecule scale to the micro size regime. In order to achieve the targeted properties, new methods are required because standard processes are not capable to deal with the often very fast reaction and interface kinetics. Thus, the key process and formulation parameters cannot be controlled within the required time frame to uniformly deliver the targeted properties. In addition, the key mechanisms (e.g. molecular transport, adsorption and desorption, crystal growth, morphology change, agglomeration) tend to occur simultaneously with complex interaction kinetics. Thus, multiple process steps have to be integrated into one newly-designed process concept.

Pre-designed particles are often used as building blocks in complex formulations to obtain application properties like scratch, rub and dirt resistance, water repellency, moisture and grease barrier, gloss, surface smoothness or a tailored release of actives. Therefore, a precise adjustment of size, structure and interface properties of the particles is often required as well as their transfer into formulations to enable the desired application properties.

For a holistic understanding, the entire process chain has to be considered on multiple scales (micro-, meso- and macroscale) including synthesis, stabilization, formulation and post-processing. The microscale is important to deal with the very fast building and reaction kinetics. The macroscale is required to describe and scale-up the desired apparatus and processes. The mesoscale, where often a transition from two or more competing mechanisms takes place, as reviewed by Li and Huang (2018), is however poorly understood, but especially in this regime material properties are often crucially influenced. A recent effort at this scale is the foundation of International Panel for Mesoscience (IPM) on 27–29 May 2018 in Beijing, China, aiming to promote the studies to discover a fundamental basis for emergent complexity at mesoscales and provide a more reliable description of natural and technological systems (Huang, 2018).

Formula IX covered formulations within these multiple scales. Fundamental studies on chemical and physical aspects of materials, interfaces and complex material compositions as well as synthesis, formulation and application technologies were involved. In addition, characterization, modelling and simulation were of great interest especially for complex material systems. Transfer from fundamental research to industrial application was another focus to highlight the importance of formulation technology for future industrial products.

The potentials of given materials, processes and equipment are often limited within each scale, but human imagination is limitless when integrating these multiscale structures and functionalities. There is plenty of room for more innovative formulations. The next conference, Formula X, will be held on 24–27 June 2019 in Manchester, UK, highlighting the focus theme Understand, Formulate, Innovate.

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