Role of the particle size of sorbitol during the compression of common tablets and prediction of mini-tablet compression parameters
Particle size and shape are well known to play important roles in particle formation and processing as they influence the intermediate and final products directly. Their effects are especially important in the manufacturing of mini tablets 2–3 mm in diameter.
Highlights
Study of the role of the particle size of sorbitol during the compression process.
Optimization of the particle size for the best tablets.
Extrapolation of the compression data on common tablets to mini-tablets.
Prediction of the compression parameters for mini-tablet.
In the present work, the role of particle size was studied during direct compression. Sorbitol was chosen as model material and compression was achieved with an instrumented tablet machine suitable for measurement of the force of compression, its software allowing calculation of the compression parameters. Through extrapolation of the compression parameters, the force of compression required to produce mini-tablets 3 mm in diameter with a mass of 140 mg was predicted.