Defense Date
6-29-2020
Graduation Date
Fall 12-20-2020
Availability
Immediate Access
Submission Type
dissertation
Degree Name
PhD
Department
Pharmaceutics
School
School of Pharmacy
Committee Chair
Carl A. Anderson
Committee Member
James K. Drennen, III
Committee Member
Peter L. D. Wildfong
Committee Member
Ira S. Buckner
Committee Member
Eiji Kato
Abstract
The mechanical strength of pharmaceutical compacts is often considered as a critical quality attribute for roller and tablet compaction processes. Most traditional mechanical strength tests are destructive, thus, preventing further material testing. This thesis expands on the application of terahertz time of flight spectroscopy (THz-TOF) as a nondestructive technique for assessing mechanical strength. This technique is able to extract the refractive index; which is a function of porosity and crystallinity of the solid. Thus, it was hypothesized that refractive index measurements from terahertz time of flight spectroscopy are directly related to porosity; therefore, these nondestructive measurements are able to correlate to the mechanical strength of pharmaceutical compacts. This hypothesis was achieved by generating refractive index based models for predicting various types of destructive mechanical strength measurements including radial tensile strength, indentation hardness, and axial tensile strength for pharmaceutically relevant tablet systems. This work provides further support for THz-TOF as a potential process analytical technology tool for roller compaction and/or tablet compaction processes.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Mohan, S. (2020). Mechanical Strength Assessment of Pharmaceutical Compacts with Refractive Index Measurements from Terahertz Time of Flight Spectroscopy (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1942