New Fields of Application for Sol-gel Processes: Cold and Vacuum-free ‘Compacting’ of Pharmaceutical Materials to Tablets

As new field of application for sol-gel processes the cold and vacuum-free ‘compression’ of pharmaceutical tablets is proposed. Suspensions consisting of an active ingredient, a silica sol and an additive are consolidated by freezing and subsequent drying. Depending on the suspensions composition parameters like porosity and pore size, dissolution behaviour and crushing forces were investigated. Dendrite pore structures were formed as negative images of the former ice crystals in the tablet bodies. An increase of the binder ascorbic acid results in a decreasing porosity, a slower dissolution velocity but an increasing crushing force.