Structural evolution of indomethacin particles upon milling: time-resolved quantification and localization of disordered structure studied by IGC and DSC.

The amorphization of indomethacin was induced by milling. The mass fraction of the amorphous phase in the drug milled for various time intervals was determined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Because the surface fraction amorphized by milling can be much higher than the mass fraction, which can have a large impact on the powder properties, a method for quantification of surface fraction amorphized by milling using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) was developed. A calibration curve was constructed by mixing completely amorphous indomethacin (obtained after milling for 120 min) with various amounts of the initial crystalline sample. Linear part of the curve was then used to quantify the surface amorphous content of samples milled for different time intervals. Surface and mass amorphization kinetics were determined and fitted to a first-order model. It was found that the surface amorphization rate is an order of magnitude higher than the mass amorphization rate. Results confirmed that IGC is a sensitive method for detection and quantification of the fraction of amorphous surface of milled indomethacin powder. If suitably combined with other techniques, this method represents a relatively general approach for the localization and quantification of the surface amorphous fraction in crystalline substances that transform into amorphous ones upon intensive milling.

Influence of inverse gas chromatography measurement conditions on surface energy parameters of lactose monohydrate.

Surface energy of any powder determined by inverse gas chromatography (IGC) should be independent of the measurement conditions or type of column used. In this study stainless steel and glass columns were filled with lactose powder. Dispersive and polar components of surface free energy were determined at different flow rates of carrier gas using lactose alone or diluted with calcinated diatomite (Chromosorb W). It was found that measurement conditions did not influence the value of the dispersive parameter of surface energy. On the contrary, K(a) and K(d) values were found to be dependent on dilution of lactose with Chromosorb W. The influence of other parameters on the results was found to be much smaller.