RHEOLOGY OF SUSPENSIONS AND

EMULSIONS
 RHEOLOGY OF SUSPENSIONS
Many pharmaceutical products, particularly those for children,
are presented as suspension and their rheological properties
are important.
In general these properties must be considered so that:
1. The product is easily administered (from bottle or via syringe
needle)
2. Sedimentation is prevented or retarded, if it occur then
redispersion is easy
3. Elegance appearance of the product
 RHEOLOGY OF SUSPENSIONS

• Low shear rates – at storage conditions

• High shear rates – when container is shaken
 RHEOLOGY OF SUSPENSIONS
Ideal suspending agent
• high viscosity at negligible shear rate
• Low viscosity at high shear rate
e.g.Tragacanth, sodium alginate and sodium CMC
 RHEOLOGY OF SUSPENSIONS

• Suspending agent - should exhibit thixotropic and

pseudoplastic behavior.
e.g. 50:50 mixture of CMC and Micro Bentonite.
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
Performance of the emulsion – depends on flow
properties
• Removal of an emulsion from a bottle or tube
• Flow of an emulsion through a hypodermic
needle.
• Spreadability of an emulsion on the skin.
• Stress induced flow changes during
manufacture (milling)
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
• Dilute emulsions – Newtonian flow
• Concentrated emulsions – Non-newtonian flow
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS

To modify the flow properties

 Viscosity of dispersed phase

 Viscosity of continuous phase
 Concentration of emulsifying agent
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
Dispersed phase

 Phase – volume ratio

 Particle size distribution
 Viscosity of the internal phase
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
Phase volume ratio

volume concentration of dispersed phase

• Less than 0.05 – Newtonian
• More than 0.05 – pseudo plastic and plastic flow
• Approaches 0.74 – phase inversion
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
Particle size distribution

 Mean particle size reduced – more viscosity

 Wider particle size distribution – less viscosity
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
Viscosity of continuous phase

 Concentrated emulsions – higher viscosity - thickness

of adjacent droplets is 100-200 A0
 Increasing shear – less viscosity – thickness decreases
 RHEOLOGY OF EMULSIONS
Emulsifying agent

affects particle flocculation and interparticle attractions.

 Concentration
 Physical properties of the film
 Electrical properties
APPLICATIONS OF RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
IN PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS
• It is vitally important in any product development that
all trials formulations be tested against assume
stresses and shear rates of manufacturing, product
movement, filling and use.
• A proper understanding of the rheological properties
of pharmaceutical materials is essential to the
preparation, development, evaluation and
performance of pharmaceutical dosage forms.

SVVNSM LAKSHMI, ASSOC. PROFESSOR, VIPER

SOME PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS OF
RHEOLOGY IN PHARMACEUTICAL
PREPARATIONS ARE:
1. Fluids
• Mixing
• Particle-size reduction of disperse system with shear
• Passage through orifices, including pouring, packaging
on bottles and passage through hypodermic needles.
• Fluid transfer, including pumping and flow through
pipes
• Physical stability of disperse system

SVVNSM LAKSHMI, ASSOC. PROFESSOR, VIPER

 2. QUASISOLIDS (SEMISOLIDS)

• Spreading and adherence on the skin

• Removal from jars or extrusion from tubes
• Capacity of solids to mix with miscible liquids
• Release of the drug from the base

SVVNSM LAKSHMI, ASSOC. PROFESSOR, VIPER

3. SOLIDS
• Flow of powders from hoppers and into die
• Cavities in tabletting or into capsules during encapsulation
• packaging of powdered or granular solids

SVVNSM LAKSHMI, ASSOC. PROFESSOR, VIPER