Phase Segregation in Individually Dried Particles Composed of Biopolymers

Abstract

Mixing of two biopolymers can results in phase separation due to their thermodynamically incompatibility under certain conditions. This phenomenon was first reported when the solution was allowed to equilibrate, but it has later been observed also as a consequence of drying. The challenges of this study were to observe phase segregation by confocal Raman microscopy and LV-SEM on dried film, individually dried particles, and spray dried particles. The influence of the solid content and the phase ratio (composition) of a HPMC/maltodextrin mixture on the localization of the ingredients in the individually dried particles was investigated. We observed that phase segregation of HPMC and maltodextrin is induced by solvent evaporation in film drying, single particle drying, as well as spray drying. The phase ratio is an important parameter that influences the localization of the HPMC-enriched phase and maltodextrin-enriched phase, i.e., to the particle surface, to the core, or in a more or less bicontinuous pattern. The drying time, affected by the solids content, was found to control the level of advancement of the phase segregation.