Examining mechanical properties of various pharmaceutical excipients with the gravitation-based high-velocity compaction analysis method

Abstract

The compression physics of powders must be considered when developing a suitable tablet formulation. In the present study, the gravitation-based high-velocity method was utilized to analyze mechanical properties of eight common pharmaceutical excipients: two grades of lactose, anhydrous glucose, anhydrous calcium hydrogen phosphate, three grades of microcrystalline cellulose and starch. Samples were compressed five times consecutively with varying pressure and speed so that Setup A produced higher pressure and longer contact time than Setup B. The important parameters obtained from samples were porosity profiles, compaction pressure, contact time, internal energy change and the amount of elastic recovery. All acquired data was only based on distance-time profile of the compression event. Lactose and glucose fragmented effectively while calcium hydrogen phosphate remained in rearrangement phase, due to its hardness and insufficient pressure applied. Microcrystalline cellulose samples showed plastic behaviour and starch was most elastic of all the samples. By utilizing the method, examined excipients could be categorized according to their compression behaviour in an accurate and cost-efficient manner.

Keywords: Calcium phosphate; Compaction; Compression; Glucose; Lactose; Microcrystalline cellulose; Starch.