Explaining the underlying causes of different tabletability classifications of binary mixtures

A tabletability classification system has been previously proposed to categorize the range of tabletability behaviors of binary mixtures.^1,2 Although the proposed system has been applied in several subsequent studies, the causes of each behavior have not been explained. The main objectives of this study were to investigate why different mixtures exhibit different behaviors and identify the attributes of components that would display specific behaviors in mixtures. To this end, binary mixtures comprising individual components with varied compressibility and compactibility were characterized. The component properties and mixture behaviors were compared to identify trends in the data. It was found that by combining accurate models of the compressibility and compactibility of pure components, the tabletability behavior of their mixtures can be predicted both qualitatively and quantitatively. The mixtures of components with similar tabletability profiles displayed linear behavior. The pronounced differences in both compactibility and tabletability produced negative deviations, while pronounced differences in compressibility and compactibility resulted in positive deviations.