Abstract

USE OF RAMAN MICROSCOPY AS TOOL TO EVALUATE IMPACT OF POLYMER BLENDS USED ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF FILMCOATED TABLETS

Gopal Krishna Rao and Rajesh Suresh Parab*

Abstract

This study was focused on understanding impact of different polymers and their blends in Film Coating formula on Surface characteristic of coated tablets. Surface roughness of tablet coated with polymer bends were successfully measured using Raman microscopy equipped with Atomic Force Microscopy and laser light to guide the microscope through an optical fiber (WITec alpha 300RA+). In this study, various analytical tools (correlogram analysis, multivariant analysis and oneway ANOVA test) were used to assess statistical similarity between tablets coated with two different polymer blends in optimized composition (PVA: PVA-PEG and HPMC: PVA-PEG samples). Data generated with optical profilometry was used to understand the formulation variables (type and concentration of polymer blends, pigment versus non-pigmented formulation and influence of talc) and impact of these variables on surface roughness. Based on analysis, results provided an evidence that, HPMC: PVA-PEG polymer blend performed better and gave most robust results compared to another blend.

Keywords: Polyvinyl Alcohol, PVA-PEG graft copolymer, Hypromellose, Raman microscopy, Atomic force microscopy, Optical profilometer.