The purpose of this research is to further the understanding of the crystalline to amorphous phase transition (amorphization) that occurs when some crystalline drugs are dry blended with porous adsorbents. Indomethacin (IMC) and three grades of silica gel (SGs) were used in the study. Amorphization of crystalline IMC occurs rapidly during dry mixing with SG and was independent of mixing intensity and time. Extent of amorphization increases with lower ratios of IMC:SG and with decreased IMC and SG particle size. Blocking H-bonding silanol groups on SG by chemical modification reduced the extent of amorphization. IMC-SG mixtures showed improved dissolution rates over crystalline IMC, the improvement being directly related to the extent of amorphization. To preserve the improved dissolution rate, mixtures should be protected from moisture and heat. This approach holds promise as a mean of improving the dissolution rate of sparingly soluble drugs such as IMC.

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Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD) methods were developed for the quantitative analysis of the crystallinity of indomethacin (IMC) in IMC and silica gel (SG) binary system. The DSC calibration curve exhibited better linearity than that of XRPD. No phase transformation occurred in the IMC-SG mixtures during DSC measurement. The major sources of error in DSC measurements were inhomogeneous mixing and sampling. Analyzing the amount of IMC in the mixtures using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) could reduce the sampling error. DSC demonstrated greater sensitivity and had less variation in measurement than XRPD in quantifying crystalline IMC in the IMC-SG binary system.