Interaction of Carbonyl Iron Powders with Different Particle Sizes with Biological and Inorganic Media

Abstract

The dissolution rates of carbonyl iron powders of different particle sizes (with an average particle size of 1–3, 2–5, and 25–50 µm) in a model solution of gastric juice and human blood plasma are investigated to assess the possibility of their use as food additives. The powders were milled and mixed using a mill developed and made at the Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science. The milling efficiency is provided due to the interaction of particles with one another and with the surface of the working chamber. It is shown that iron powders interact most intensively with biological media containing organic acids that transform iron into the hydroxide form, which promotes its binding with proteins of blood plasma and pepsin with the formation of easily assimilable complexes. The dissolution rates of iron powders in biological media depend on their particle size. The milling of iron powders for 60 sec practically doubles the intensity of their interaction with biological media (blood plasma and the model solution of gastric juice) and, therefore, the assimilation of iron in the human body.