Investigating compressibility descriptors for binary mixtures of different deformation behavior

Abstract

One of the most important dosage forms remains tablets. Predicting the tableting behavior of formulations is a major goal in the development of those dosage forms. Resources and consequently costs can be saved if time-consuming experiments for empirical formulation development are eliminated. Predicting the properties of a mixture from the properties of the materials it is composed of has been studied many times. To simplify this approach, binary mixtures were tableted in this work. Both pure materials and mixtures in different compositions were characterized with respect to their compressibility and tablet properties. The aim was to investigate different compressibility descriptors for their suitability to predict the tableting behavior of binary mixtures. For this, linear mixing rule for weight and volume fractions was applied to predict the properties of the mixture from the corresponding starting materials. Compressibility analysis, Walker equation and rearrangement index of Kawakita analysis showed promising results. A linear relationship between the compression parameter and the composition of the binary mixture was found for the three parameters. These descriptors can be used as a foundation to describe more complicated mixtures in the future.