In this study, a neural network (NN) was applied to a continuous manufacturing process of tablets to predict the tablet physical properties based on a twin-screw granulation operating conditions and tableting pressure. The hyperparameters in the NN model were optimized to accurately predict the tablet physical properties. The constructed NN model successfully demonstrated the predictive capability with the R² of ca. 0.9 in both training and validation. The effects of the granulation operating conditions and the tableting pressure on the tablet physical properties were investigated. It was found that the tableting pressure was the most dominant factor for the tablet hardness and disintegration time. Among the granulation operating conditions, liquid solid ratio had the strongest impact on the tablet physical properties. Focusing on the tableting pressure and liquid solid ratio, the contour maps for the relationships between the operating conditions and the tablet physical properties were obtained by the NN model. It was suggested that the obtained contour maps can be helpful to predict the continuous manufacturing of tablets with the desired tablet physical properties.

Lithium-ion batteries are used as the power supply of cellular phones and several other portable electrical devices at present. The concern about energy sources in the near future, either for electric vehicles (EV) or large-scale batteries for electricity power storage, has made lithium-ion battery development into a growth area which has gained high momentum for its research activities.

In this paper, the background of olivine type cathode material with high working potential (LiCoPO₄) for lithium-ion batteries are briefly introduced and its conventional synthesis methods were overviewed. Moreover, its challenges were pointed out. To overcome these issues, we developed a novel synthetic process using powder technology, that is, spray pyrolysis with citric acid additive. The obtained cathode material was spherical nanostructured LiCoPO₄ (SN-LiCoPO₄) particles. The specific capacity and rate capability of SN-LiCoPO₄ electrode were superior to those of LiCoPO₄ electrode prepared by conventional spray pyrolysis.