Pharmaceutical Materials Science: An Active New Frontier in Materials Research

Abstract

AbstractThe discipline of materials science has most commonly been associated with the study of structural or functional materials for engineering applications, such as metals, ceramics, and composites, but there are now, increasingly, great opportunities involving applications to soft matter, including polymers, powders, and biomaterials. The emerging discipline of pharmaceutical materials science attempts to apply physical principles common in materials science to challenges in such areas as drug delivery, control of drug form, manufacture and processing of nanoscopic and microscopic particle systems, and the structure and properties of bulk powders and their assemblies (e.g., tablets) for use in pharmaceutical applications. In this issue of MRS Bulletin, we have attempted to capture a snapshot of this rapidly developing new area of materials research, in order to bring it to the attention of the wider materials science community.