The effect of glidant on the tabletting behavior of common pharmaceutical excipients.

Glidant used for the purpose of powder flowability enhancement is well known within the pharmaceutical industry to improve tablet manufacturing. Despite the widespread use of glidant for this purpose, the effect of glidant on the effect of tableting behavior is not well studied. To address this deficiency, the effect on glidant on the tabletting behavior of seven common excipients was investigated. Tabletability, compressibility, compactability, and tablet expansion were studied. It was shown that glidant increased the tabletability for excipients known to exhibit plastic behavior. Based on compressibility and compactability, it was inferred that an increase in total bonding strength due to the presence of glidant was responsible for the improvement in tabletability. Results suggest this may be due to an increase in inter-particle bonding area. Conversely, glidants did not affect the tabletability of brittle excipients. The effect of glidant on die-fill bulk density was also studied to examine the impact associated with air entrapment and tablet expansion. While glidant significantly increased the die-fill powder density, this did not have an observable effect on tablet expansion or any other tabletting behavior examined. [Display omitted] • Glidant improved the tabletability of excipients known to exhibit plastic behavior. • Glidant increased total bonding strength thereby improving tabletability. • Glidant did not affect the tabletability of brittle excipients. • Die-fill density showed no affects related to air entrapment and tablet expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]