Capillary Imbibition Techniques Used to Characterize the Structural Changes in Microcrystalline Cellulose Due to Wet and Dry Processes

RAVAZZOLI, PABLO; BALBI, MARÍA CECILIA; CESCHAN, NAZARETH ELIANA; MUZZIO FERNANDO J.; CALLEGARI, GERARDO; DRAZER, GERMAN

Orlando

Congreso; 2023 AIChE Annual Meeting; 2023

AIChe

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is a common excipient used in the pharmaceutical industry.It has been reported that wetting and subsequent drying decreases its binding abilityduring tabletting as well as its swelling (and contribution to disintegration) due to irreversiblehydrogen bonding, otherwise known as ‘hornification’. Hornification of MCC could resultfrom intermediate manufacturing processes such as wet granulation and it is therefore importantto understand its effect on the physical properties of the powder and its producs,e. g. pharmaceutical tablets. Here, we consider how wetting and drying cycles changes thewettability properties of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC-Avicel 101). In order to characterizewettability, we perform the following experiments: (i) drop penetration in a slightlycompressed power bed, (ii) capillary imbibition in a packed powder column, and (iii) droppenetration into tablets. We consider three cases for the MCC powder, the original drypowder as well as the powder obtained after one or two cycles of wetting and drying. Ineach case, the powder is sieved and separated into two samples, depending on particle size,25 < ϕ < 75 μm and B) 75 < ϕ < 125 μm.