The effect of moisture on the compaction properties of the binary mixture of hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose K4M/ibuprofen

Abstract

The consolidation and compaction properties of hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose K4M and ibuprofen containing various moisture contents were evaluated. The powders were compressed using a high-speed compaction simulator. The effect of moisture content, compression speed and compression force was also investigated on a 50/50 w/w of ibuprofen/hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose K4M mixture. As the moisture content increased from 0 to 13.05% w/w, the tensile strength of ibuprofen/hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose K4M compacts increased at a constant compression force and speed. Increasing the compression speed generally decreased the tensile strength of ibuprofen/hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose K4M tablets containing varying moisture contents. An increase in moisture content resulted in a reduction in net compaction energy (plastic energy), whereas an increase in compression speed from 15 to 300 mm/s increased the net compaction energy.