Influence of the Polymer Glass Transition Temperature and Molecular Weight on Drug Amorphization Kinetics Using Ball Milling

Abstract

In this study, the putative correlation between the molecular mobility of a polymer and the ball milling drug amorphization kinetics (i.e., time to reach full drug amorphization, ta) was studied using different grades of dextran (Dex) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and the two model drugs indomethacin (IND) and chloramphenicol (CAP). In general, IND had lower ta values than CAP, indicating that IND amorphized faster than CAP in the presence of the polymers. In addition, an increase in polymer molecular weight (Mw) also led to an increase in ta for all systems investigated up to a critical Mw for each polymer, which was in line with an increase of the glass transition temperature (Tg) up to the critical Mw of each polymer. Hence, the increase in ta seemed to correlate well with the Tg/Mw of the polymers, which indicates that the polymers’ molecular mobility had an influence on the drug amorphization kinetics during ball milling.

Keywords

• amorphous
• solid dispersion
• ball-milling
• milling time
• amorphization kinetics