A novel approach to derive a compression parameter indicating effective particle deformability.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Tablet compression is a critical process in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Understanding particle behavior under pressure is essential for tablet quality.
• Existing parameters may not fully capture particle deformability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To derive and discuss the physical significance of a novel compression parameter.
• To evaluate the relationship between this parameter and the Heckel parameter.
• To correlate the new parameter with particle hardness.

Main Methods:

• Tablets were prepared from sodium chloride and sucrose powders at various compaction pressures.
• Tensile strength and porosity of the tablets were measured.
• A novel compression parameter and Heckel parameters were calculated from the experimental data.

Main Results:

• Tablet strength increased linearly with compaction pressure up to 300-500 MPa, then leveled off.
• The novel compression parameter was derived from this linear region.
• Tablet porosity followed the Heckel function, allowing yield strength calculation.
• A consistent ratio of approximately 3 was found between the compression parameter and Heckel yield strength for all powders.

Conclusions:

• The derived compression parameter indicates effective particle deformability during compression.
• This parameter shows a correlation with the inherent hardness of the particles.
• The findings offer insights into powder behavior during tablet manufacturing.