A Review of the Terms Agglomerate and Aggregate with a Recommendation for Nomenclature Used in Powder and Particle Characterization

The terms “agglomerate” and “aggregate” are widely used by powder technologists to describe assemblages of particles that are found in dry powders and powders in liquid suspensions. Each term has a specific meaning but, unfortunately, they are frequently interchanged at will and this has resulted in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pharmaceutical sciences 2002-10, Vol.91 (10), p.2103-2109
Main Authors: Nichols, Gary, Byard, Stephen, Bloxham, Mark J., Botterill, Joanne, Dawson, Neil J., Dennis, Andrew, Diart, Valerie, North, Nigel C., Sherwood, John D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agglomerate
aggregate
Biological and medical sciences
Drug Compounding
Excipients
General pharmacology
Medical sciences
nomenclature
particle assemblage
Particle Size
Pharmaceutical technology. Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
powder characterization
powder properties
Powders - classification
Suspensions
Terminology as Topic
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Summary:The terms “agglomerate” and “aggregate” are widely used by powder technologists to describe assemblages of particles that are found in dry powders and powders in liquid suspensions. Each term has a specific meaning but, unfortunately, they are frequently interchanged at will and this has resulted in universal confusion. This confusion is perpetuated by conflicting definitions in national and international standards and this presents problems when describing powder properties or communicating results in reports and research papers. This paper reviews the current status of the definitions, with particular emphasis on their use in the pharmaceutical industry. It is proposed that just one term, agglomerate, should be used to describe an assemblage of particles in a powder and that the term aggregate should be confined to pre‐nucleation structures. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss Inc. and the American Pharmaceutical Association J Pharm Sci 91:2103–2109, 2002
ISSN:0022-3549
1520-6017
DOI:10.1002/jps.10191