Particulate materials are foundational to a vast array of industries, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food, energy, and additive manufacturing. Efficient processing of powders and granular materials is essential to ensure product quality, resource sustainability, and manufacturing efficiency. Despite their prevalence, challenges such as inhomogeneous mixing, flow instabilities, and agglomeration persist, often limiting process scalability and reproducibility. Rapid developments in computational modeling, process analytical technologies, novel equipment design, and advanced characterization techniques are driving a new wave of innovation in this field.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together the latest scientific and engineering advances that address fundamental and practical challenges in particulate materials processing. We especially seek to highlight research that provides deeper understanding or significant improvements in mechanisms of powder flow, dispersion, blending, mixing and segregation, agglomeration, particle coating, fluidization and pneumatic conveying; enhances process monitoring and control; or introduces breakthroughs in equipment design or process intensification. In particular, contributions exploring data-driven approaches, sustainable processing, multi-scale modeling, and integration of experimental and simulation insights are highly encouraged.
This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, and perspectives focused on, but not limited to, the following themes:
o Powder handling, mixing, and transport phenomena
o Granulation, agglomeration, and powder compaction
o Process analytical technologies and in-line monitoring
o Particle design, sizing, and surface modification
o Simulation and modeling of particulate systems (DEM, CFD, machine learning, etc.)
o Scale-up challenges and industrial case studies
o Sustainable and energy-efficient processing methods
o Additive manufacturing using particulate feedstocks
Manuscripts demonstrating novel experimental methods, advanced modeling approaches, integration of data analytics, or addressing key industrial challenges are particularly welcome. Through this collection, we aim to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and inspire innovative solutions to pressing issues in particulate materials processing.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Brief Research Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- Methods
- Mini Review
- Original Research
- Perspective
- Review
- Technology and Code
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Keywords: Particulate Materials, Powder Processing, Particle Size Distribution, Agglomeration, Granulation
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
