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The publication is Open Source (CC-BY 4.0) and can be read and downloaded at the ACS website or viewed below.

Following her M.Chem, which included the experimental project supported by iFormulate, Ana has gone on to complete a PhD at the University of Nottingham.

January 2024

With Professor Steven Abbott

At iFormulate we know that formulation challenges are rarely simple, requiring multiple pieces of science to be brought together. But formulators cannot know every key principle or be expected to do the calculations behind those principles.

So we are delighted that Professor Steven Abbott – a good friend of iFormulate – has produced for the formulation community an extensive “Formulation Scientist’s Toolkit” containing the tools, and links to his many apps that bring the tools to life. Best of all it’s a free and open-source PDF that you can simply download here. Any time you have a problem, you open it and find the tools you need, along with explanations, equations and links to the apps. At the top of this article you can view a video of Steven explaining the Toolkit.

How do you find what you want? The book is built on a matrix of Products and Sciences. You find a Product that’s relevant to your needs, and it contains links to the different Sciences you need to formulate in that space. Click on any of the Science links and you see other Products for which it’s relevant. Now you can get formulation inspiration from other domains. That’s one way to use the FST. You can also use the PDF Search function, or use the Thumbnail bar or Bookmark bar, whatever gets you to the information you need.

Some will use it to find the thing they need right now. Others will choose to get lost in the interconnections between Products and Sciences. Some will spend a lot of time exploring apps. It’s a toolkit, not a book. And it’s your toolkit so you can use it any way you like.

Having taken a look ourselves we think that you will enjoy re-discovering things you’ve forgotten you knew, and learning things you didn’t know that you didn’t know! If the science gets heavy going, Steven lightens things with stories from his own formulation life, including learning from his mistakes.

As Steven freely admits, the FST is imperfect. But it’s been designed to be easy to update. Anyone with a complaint, correction, suggestion can email him and things will be fixed. Steven has also asked our help to identify what should be priorities for new Product and Science chapters, so we welcome your views. As he said to us recently “The more the community helps the FST to grow, the more tools we have for creating better formulations, faster.”

Happy exploring, and it will be great to hear your feedback – please let us know what you think.

iFormulate’s Dr Jim Bullock interviewed for Azo Materials at ChemUK 2023

This year, we were once again pleased to be attending and speaking at ChemUK at the NEC in Birmingham. The event has rapidly established itself as being the premier meeting point for the UK’s chemical industry and its supply chain. This time, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Skyla Baily of Azo Materials and was able to explain a little about how we work to help our clients with their challenges in formulation. You can find the full interview here.

ChemUK returns to the NEC on 15th and 16th May 2024.

By Dr Jim Bullock, iFormulate Ltd.

For the full article, see  AgroPages 2023 Formulation & Adjuvant Technology magazine and website pages.

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the environmental problems caused by plastic pollution and in particular, by microplastics – small pieces of plastics which may be found in the environment and in the food chain. The EU defines microplastics as being:

″Particles containing solid polymer, to which additives or other substances may have been added, and where at least 1% w/w of particles have all dimensions between 0.1µm and 5mm, or for fibres, a length of between 0.3µm and 15mm and a length to diameter ratio of more than 3.″

After a period of fact-finding and consultation lasting several years, the European Commission published a draft Regulation (amendment to REACH) in 2022. This would place restrictions on microplastics intentionally added at 0.01% or more by weight. Excluded from the restrictions would be natural polymers, biodegradable polymers and polymers with at least 2 g/l solubility in water. ECHA published the draft amendment to the REACH Regulation in August 2022. The proposal is going to the EU Parliament, and it is expected that there will be a transitional period of five years after entry into force for uses of agricultural and horticultural products.

Although much of the microplastic contamination we see in the environment has its origin in packaging materials and car tyres, product formulation plays a role too. These restrictions will be especially relevant for cosmetics, household products and agrochemicals. However, with the elimination of plastic microbeads from cosmetics, the spotlight has moved onto other industries and application areas. So first, let’s take a look at the challenges for formulators of agrochemicals who may be tasked with removing many of the polymer materials used in products such as microencapsulated formulations, seed treatments and slow-release fertilisers…

To read the rest of this article go to AgroPages 2023 Formulation & Adjuvant Technology.

By Dr David Calvert, April 2023

Schoolchildren are often the trend setters with regard to consumer goods and I recently came across a product called “air-up” which is causing quite a stir. The claim is that you simply drink water but that the brain is tricked into thinking that the water is actually flavoured, thanks to the addition of aroma pods such as passionfruit, elderflower, coffee, cucumber and cola. Taste has always been a complicated matter and we know that sight, smell as well as the actual taste-buds can play a role in what the brain registers.

The formulation science behind this product appears sound and it got me round to thinking about how commonly the success of products relies upon appealing to the human senses and how this can be difficult to measure. With food and drink we all can see how the human sense plays a key role and how despite much effort there is still a strong reliance on consumer panel and expert tasters from products such as wine, coffee and tea.

There are other areas where “experts” are needed, however, and I think back to my time working in the pigments industry where colour matchers were still the best source of information that even the very best spectrophotometers could not provide. Moving further down the supply chain, if we think of almost any coatings product, then colour and how people react to the colour and even the name can be critical to the success of a coating. Have you been seduced by “Flamingo Flock”, Frosted Papaya” or “Proud Peacock” from the Dulux Trade Pro Colour Guide, or if cars are of more interest, what about “Shooting Star Grey Matte” or “Orinoco” or “Fjord”?

In the pharmaceutical area, the efficacy of a product can clearly be measured by how the patient feels and the inclusion of placebos in medical trials tries to remove the “feeling” element from results. Moving into healthcare and personal care, creams are often marketed as having a soothing effect and how many times have we all benefitted from lotions and creams both before and after we venture onto those sunbeds while on vacation.

I could go on with many more examples but I think the previous examples make the point that the senses cannot be ignored by any formulator and often a formulator should use their own senses as an initial filter before getting to convoluted data management techniques.

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By Dr Jim Bullock, April 2023

There has been a lot of recent debate about the opportunities and pitfalls of using artificial intelligence (AI) and a lot of discussion about the possible impact on journalism, literature and the arts. Rather less of the debate has been about its impact on science and technology. To see whether the popular generic AI tools could be of use and interest, I had a play with the (in)famous ChatGPT and asked it a question of the sort a typical formulator might ask. I decided to ask ChatGPT to write a detailed recipe for the manufacture of an oil dispersion (OD) formulation containing the herbicide nicosulfuron as the active ingredient. It’s a tricky question but not an unreasonable one, as several agrochemical companies do produce formulations of this type based on that particular active ingredient. Below you can see the response I got. Let’s see what it got right, what it left out and what looks decidedly odd.

First of all, it has chosen some reasonable ingredients, but although I asked for a “detailed” recipe, the list is a bit generic. Including a mineral oil solvent is reasonable and OD formulations do typically include at least one surfactant to act as a dispersing agent in the oil phase as well as a second surfactant to emulsify the oil phase when diluted in water in the spray tank. But as a formulator I have to choose from many hundreds of possible candidate surfactants and this recipe doesn’t really tell me where to start, nor does it suggest what amounts of ingredients to use. I’d also be worried about the tendency of dispersions to settle out, and I’d ask myself whether a rheology modifier might be needed in this case.

Moving on to the equipment, again the list is a bit generic. Typically, the particles of active ingredient have to be ground down to a few µm in size, in order to provide a stable dispersion formulation. The recipe doesn’t include any milling equipment which is surprising. Also surprising is the use of a centrifuge to “homogenize” the formulation. Correct me if I am wrong, but centrifuges are usually used to separate particles from liquids, the opposite of homogenizing them. Then there’s the use of a pH meter. Although ChatGPT has correctly worked out that this is an oil-based formulation, I think that formulators would struggle to get a meaningful pH measurement on a formulation with a mineral oil as the solvent.

So, what have we got? Well, although we can recognise a few reasonable points, it looks a bit like the results from multiple search engine results have been put in a blender and homogenized (and not with a centrifuge) to give us something that we really couldn’t make a start with. A real-life formulator would make proper use of context (for instance “what do we know about formulations of other active ingredients with similar physical properties to this one?”) and sources of both online and offline information to come up with a starting formulation to test. As well as interrogating the scientific literature and patent databases, a formulator might pick up their old-fashioned phone and call some suppliers of co-formulants for recommended surfactants and other ingredients.

So does this mean that AI is of no use to formulators? Well in fact AI is becoming established as a useful formulation design tool, it’s just that successful AI systems can make proper use of context and user data to achieve the desired results. And AI can be combined with automatic high throughput screening and statistical methods. I don’t want to single out any particular company or organisation, but a glance at the speaker list for last years’ SCI event “AI/ML in Formulation Design” will lead the reader to some interesting examples.

Finally, I gave ChatGPT one last chance to redeem itself. As an enthusiast for both science and the arts, I thought I’d ask it to write a Shakespearean sonnet that describes how to formulate a biopesticide. To my non-literary eye, what came back might not be much use as a formulation recipe but it’s quite poetic…well, nearly. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.

 

ChatGPT response (don’t try this at home)

Oil Dispersion (OD) formulation containing Nicosulfuron herbicide as the active ingredient:


Ingredients:

Nicosulfuron (Active ingredient)

Solvent (E.g., Mineral Oil)

Surfactant

Emulsifying agents

Antioxidants


Equipment:

Mixing vessel

Stirrer

Measuring beakers or flasks

pH meter

Centrifuge


Instructions:

Prepare the solvent by heating it to 40°C to reduce its viscosity.

In the mixing vessel, add the required amount of surfactant and emulsifying agents.

Slowly add the heated solvent to the surfactant and emulsifying agents mixture, stirring continuously.

Add the required amount of nicosulfuron to the mixture and continue to stir.

Adjust the pH of the mixture to 7.0 using a pH meter.

Mix the formulation for 30 minutes to ensure that the ingredients are well dispersed.

Allow the formulation to cool to room temperature.

If required, homogenize the formulation using a centrifuge.

Add the required amount of antioxidants to the formulation and mix well.

The OD formulation is now ready for use. Store it in a cool, dry place, and shake well before use.

Note: The above recipe is a general guideline, and the exact proportions of the ingredients may vary depending on the specific application requirements.

iFormulate was once again delighted to be able to support the School of Chemistry at the University of Lincoln as the latest graduates from the University’s M.Chem course (completing in summer 2022) celebrated their achievements in January 2023.

This year’s winner of the Professional Practice in Chemistry prize was new M.Chem graduate Aaliyah Hart. The award was sponsored by iFormulate. Congratulations are also due to Aaliyah for securing a position as a scientist working for LGC Assure after completing her studies at Lincoln.

Since the inception of the Lincoln M.Chem course, iFormulate‘s David Calvert and Jim Bullock have and presented a short lecture series on the industrial applications of Formulation Science and Technology to Lincoln’s second-year M.Chem students.

By David Calvert, December 2022

Reflecting back on 12 months ago, here in the UK we were facing the Omicron COVID variant and – due to government advice – entering another pseudo-lockdown. I remember thinking at that time, where would we be in a year’s time – and would life, both personal and business, ever return to “normal”? Well times have changed and as the saying goes, we have now entered a “new normal”.

Although we had participated in a few in-person events in 2021, exhibitions, courses and conferences returned properly in 2022. We attended several exhibitions and presented in-person at ChemUK 2022 in Birmingham and then I attended an in-person networking event on “Sustainability in Cosmetics” in York in February. It seemed somewhat surreal going back to “business speed-dating” but the smiles of all participants (the majority without masks) were something special.

As the year progressed, more familiarity returned with exhibitions such as “Making Pharmaceuticals”, “SCS Formulate” and “Surfex” and we continued our efforts to help educate the next generation of formulators by delivering lectures at both the University of Lincoln and the University of York, as well as contributing to the activities of the SCI Formulation Forum.

Our in-person training courses picked up with Formulation – The Basics being sold out on its first appearance in London in September and the Spray Drying course with the University of Leeds was well received. There has been a noticeable change in attitudes to on-line training though and we saw this with the second live online edition of Informa’s “Introduction to Agrochemical Formulation Strategies” which saw participation from companies in Malaysia, South Africa, the US and all around Europe. In our projects, we have noticed that there has been a trend towards hybrid projects where we have delivered on-line training tailored to a company’s activities, together with an element of consultancy. This “Trainsultancy” looks like it is here to stay.

We have carried out a number of projects and conference presentation on agrochemicals with an emphasis on biopesticides, or BioControl Agents (BCAs) as they are the industry now prefers to call them. Following presentations at the World Bioprotection Forum event in Birmingham and running a formulation session at the inaugural IBMA UK/University of Swansea conference on “New IPM”, we also recently ran a workshop at the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) in Basel. This event had over 1500 attendees and combined an exhibition, with a conference and workshop programme. We were invited to lead an interactive workshop on “Formulating for Biology” and with over 50 attendees this was a challenge and experiment which I am pleased to say was received well. The exhibition demonstrated the massive growth potential of biocontrol agents and formulation has a key role to play in delivering the growth potential. As would be expected, the conference programme had an emphasis on regulations, and this is still hindering the introduction of BCAs in Europe especially. This may change with the EU’s “Farm to Fork” strategy but there is still a long way to go to match the progress seen in Brazil where it has been recently reported that from 107 biological pesticide registrations in 2013, there are now 433 registered through March 2022 with over 500 expected by March 2023[1]. So, what do we expect in 2023 for formulation in general? Well, change is always to be expected and formulators cannot ignore the cost-of-living crisis which people around the globe are facing. We would expect a formulation “evolution” rather than revolution both in terms of technology and delivery but the importance of formulation will continue to grow – and with that we wish you all a happy Christmas and successful 2023.  

Free Stock Photos by Vecteezy

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[1] https://www.agribusinessglobal.com/biopesticides/biopesticide-registrations-have-skyrocketed-in-brazil-heres-why/

By Jim Bullock, December 2022

Formulations are complex systems with numerous variables. Quite apart from the numerous functional ingredients found in most formulations, a wide variety of different processing operations and conditions can be used when making formulations in order to achieve the desired product microstructure and the end performance. This all means that making changes in your formulation can have unexpected consequences. So, what happens if you want to make changes to an existing formulation and need to predict the impact of replacing a particular ingredient with another one, for instance on grounds of cost or environmental sustainability? Similarly, what happens if you have developed a formulation in the laboratory and would like to know how it would perform once scaled up to pilot or full manufacturing scale? The complexity of formulated products and formulation processes is such that this can conventionally be a tricky task.

Well, this is where a “digital twin” of your process could be invaluable. In the context of formulations, a digital twin is a digital simulation of, for instance, your product, your manufacturing process or your supply chain system. It can be used to help design products or processes, or to optimise them once they are up and running. In the latter case a digital twin can be furnished with real-time data from the process in order to help monitor and predict what happens if changes are made. Although the initial focus on digital twins might have been in the engineering sector, they are becoming more prominent in industries closer to home, such as pharmaceuticals and the food industry where processes such as fluid dynamics, heat transfer and mass transfer are modelled. Examples of digital twins in pharmaceutical manufacturing have been presented, and here the use of Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) to collect and report critical process and product data is a key component of the model. Moving on from production and into the use of formulated products, a digital twin of human skin has been developed and it is being used to predict the effect on the skin of cosmetic and pharmaceutical products, potentially reducing the need for animal testing.

Apart from optimising costs and performance of formulated products, digital twins can be used to predict the impact of changing processes from a sustainability point of view. So, in that context, it was interesting to see a real-life example reported in the recent Green Special edition of BBC Click (note that this may not be available to view in your country). In the programme, the consumer products company, Reckitt, explained how they had used a digital twin of their manufacturing and supply chain systems (developed by Risilience) in order to model the environmental impact of replacing an active ingredient in one of their headline disinfectant brands (Dettol®) with lactic acid. As well as the fact that it is derived from renewable raw materials, the use of lactic acid was found to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the product. A description of the Risilience collaboration with Reckitt on sustainable supply chains can be found on the Risilience website as well as in this video.

Formulated products and formulation processes have long been thought to be too complex for useful predictive models to be developed. However, as we have seen in these few examples, recent developments in sensing, measurement, scientific understanding, data processing and simulation – as embodied in the newest digital twins – have brought the dream of truly predictive formulation closer than ever to reality.

Image created by the author using DALL-E 2 AI art software.

By Dr Jim Bullock, January 2022

Regulations abound in the chemical-using industries and although most companies are aware of the main laws that apply to their products and market, it seems that many companies still get caught out. Although compliance with regulations can be costly and time-consuming for companies, at the same time we are all consumers and the majority of chemicals regulations (however imperfect) have been implemented in order to benefit us by reducing risks to human health and to the environment.

We hear a lot about regulations and the requirements of regulatory bodies, but not so much about enforcement. So far there isn’t a formulation equivalent of Interpol but a recent report from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) describes how the majority of products inspected in a recent enforcement activity were not compliant in at least one respect. This activity had consequences – more than 5000 enforcement actions were initiated.

Of interest to formulators is the fact that 81% of the products inspected were mixtures (i.e., formulations), the rest being chemical substances or articles. The inspections related specifically to:

• REACH (the EU’s main chemical regulation) where 78% of products were non-compliant;
• the BPR (Biocidal Products Regulation), where 77% of products fell-foul of regulations on advertising and illegal sale of biocides and
• CLP (which relates to classification and labelling of hazardous substances and mixture), where 75% products did not comply with advertising obligations.

As a result of the enforcement activity, 53% of non-compliant products were removed from the market and, in 23% of cases, advertising material was brought into compliance.

The consequences of non-compliance can be costly and the regulations described above are just a few examples of the many regulations to which companies making and selling formulations are subject worldwide. Other examples of regulated markets include crop protection products, cosmetics and medicines. Whether, or how, a regulation applies can depend quite subtly on the intended market, use and product claims being made. In new product development, this can restrict the ingredients used in a formulation and can make the whole process more complex and costly.

At iFormulate, we assist our clients with formulation development across all of the markets mentioned in this article, as well as many others. We can’t be regulatory experts in all of these markets but, in all of our assignments, we do ensure that our clients recognise where regulatory advice is likely to be needed. At that point, if required, we can bring in a regulatory expert into the assignment. We then work alongside them to find solutions which are going to not only comply with the regulations, but also meet the client’s requirement for formulations with the required technical performance and cost-effectiveness. If you’d like to ask us about how iFormulate can help you with your formulation development activities, just contact us at info@iformulate.biz.