The measurement of the adhesion of film coatings to tablet surfaces: the effect of tablet porosity, surface roughness and film thickness

Abstract

The effect of tablet porosity, surface roughness and film thickness on the adhesion of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose films to placebo tablet substrates have been studied using a specially designed tensile tester (Fisher & Rowe, 1976). There were direct relations between measured adhesion and tablet porosity and also surface roughness and tablet porosity. The effect of film thickness on the measured adhesion is complex with an initial decrease with thicknesses up to 35 μm and then a gradual increase with thicknesses up to 140 μm due to differences in in the stress distibution within the film during testing. A knowledge of these effects is necessary if results from various sources are to be compared. The findings illustrate the potential capability of the extrapolation of measured adhesion results to zero porosity and zero thickness values in order to obtain a measure of the true or intrinsic adhesion at any film/tablet interface without the confusing elements of tablet porosity, surface roughness and residual stresses in the film.