While the process of solid bridge formation is the major caking
mechanism in hygroscopic crystalline powders [18], only a few studies
have been performed that looked at the actual contact points between individual, polycrystalline, particles and studied the solid bridge
formation between those particles [19–22], Also the effect of anticaking
agents on the caking of powders has been studied surprisingly little
[23,24].
In this paper we investigate the process of caking and the influence
of anticaking agents thereon at the powder and at the two-crystal
scale, in order to show that growth inhibition on the crystal surface at
the nanometre scale and anticaking of materials at the powder scale
are essentially the same phenomena.