Study of the melt pelletization process focusing on the micromeritic property of pellets

Impact of a non-meltable additive on melt agglomeration with a hydrophobic meltable binder in high-shear mixer

The present study aims to investigate the behavior of melt agglomeration with a low-viscosity hydrophobic meltable binder by using a non-meltable additive. The size, crushing strength, and pore size distribution of resultant agglomerates, the rheological, surface tension, and wetting properties of the molten binder, as well as, the flow characteristics of preagglomeration powder blend were determined. The use of additive showed contradictory agglomerate growth-promoting and -retarding effects on the molten binder surface tension and the interparticulate frictional forces. Critical concentration effects of additive corresponded to threshold transition of agglomeration-promoting to -retarding behavior were discussed.

Investigation of melt agglomeration process with a hydrophobic binder in combination with sucrose stearate

The melt agglomeration process of lactose powder with hydrogenated cottonseed oil (HCO) as the hydrophobic meltable binder was investigated by studying the physicochemical properties of molten HCO modified by sucrose stearates S170, S770 and S1570. The size, size distribution, micromeritic and adhesion properties of agglomerates as well as surface tension, contact angle, viscosity and specific volume of molten HCO, with and without sucrose stearates, were examined. The viscosity, specific volume and surface tension of molten HCO were found to be modified to varying extents by sucrose stearates which are available in different HLB values and melt properties. The growth of melt agglomerates was promoted predominantly by an increase in viscosity, an increase in specific volume or a decrease in surface tension of the molten binding liquid. The agglomerate growth propensity was higher with an increase in inter-particulate binding strength, agglomerate surface wetness and extent of agglomerate consolidation which enhanced the liquid migration from agglomerate core to periphery leading to an increased surface plasticity for coalescence. The inclusion of high concentrations of completely meltable sucrose stearate S170 greatly induced the growth of agglomerates through increased specific volume and viscosity of the molten binding liquid. On the other hand, the inclusion of incompletely meltable sucrose stearates S770 and S1570 promoted the agglomeration mainly via the reduction in surface tension of the molten binding liquid with declining agglomerate growth propensity at high sucrose stearate concentrations. In addition to being an agglomeration modifier, sucrose stearate demonstrated anti-adherent property in melt agglomeration process. The properties of molten HCO and melt agglomerates were dependent on the type and concentration of sucrose stearate added.

Formulation design of carbamazepine fast-release tablets prepared by melt granulation technique

This work describes a new approach to prepare a fast-release dosage form for carbamazepine (CBZ), involving the use of melt granulation process in high shear mixer for the production of tablets. In particular, the granules containing CBZ were prepared using polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 as a melting binder and lactose monohydrate as a hydrophilic filler. The potential of the intragranular addition of crospovidone as a dissolution enhancer and a disintegrant agent was also evaluated. After the analysis of their solid state performed by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the granules were characterised from the technological and dissolution point of view. The subsequent step encompassed the preparation and the evaluation of the tablets, including the effect of the extragranular introduction of crospovidone. Besides the remarkable enhancement of drug dissolution rate of the granulates in comparison to physical mixtures and pure drug, no significant differences were found between the dissolution profiles of the granulates containing lactose or crospovidone. However, the difficult disintegration and bad dissolution performance of the tablets not containing intragranular crospovidone highlight the necessity of this disintegrant in the granulating mixture. Moreover, the extragranular addition of a small amount of crospovidone gave rise to a further amelioration of the disintegration and dissolution performances.