Coatings

By Gamal Shazly

Tablet Coatings
Tablet coating is the application of a coating
material to the exterior of a tablet with the
intention of conferring benefits and properties to
the dosage form over the uncoated variety.

What is the rationale for coating a solid dosage

form?
Main coating processes
Functional coatings

What is the rationale for coating a

solid dosage form?
Coating of a solid dosage form is often designed to perform a specific function. For
example; protection against moisture, taste masking pH or time controlled release.
Tablets can be easily coated and a variety of products are available on the market.
Generally, the coating process gives rise to;
Increased bioavailability
Improved patient acceptance
Formulation stability
The rationale for coating pharmaceutical dosage form such as a tablet
categorised into three main headings:
Therapy
Technology
Marketing

can be

What is the rationale for coating a

solid dosage form?

Therapy
To minimise irritation of the oesophagus and stomach.
Minimise inactivation in the stomach.
Improve drug effectiveness.
Improve patient compliance e.g. easier to swallow, masks unpleasant taste.

What is the rationale for coating a

solid dosage form?

Technology
Minimise dust formation and contamination with respect to tablets.
Masks batch differences in the appearance of raw materials.
Facilitates their handling on high speed automated filling and packaging
equipment.
Improves drug stability e.g. Protection of active ingredient from
environment such as sunlight, moisture.

What is the rationale for coating a

solid dosage form?

Marketing
Aid sales appeal as improved appearance and acceptability with respect to
gloss and colouration.
Mask unpleasant taste.

Improve product identity.

Main coating processes

1.Film coating
2. Sugar coating
3. Press coating

Sugar coating
Traditionally sugar coatings formed the bulk of coated tablets but today film coatings
are the more modern technology in tablet coating.
Description of tablets: Smooth, rounded and polished to a high gloss.
Process: Multistage process involving 6 separate operations.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Seal tablet core

Sub coating
Smoothing
Colouring
Polishing
Printing

Multistage process
1.

Sealing tablet core- application of a water impermeable polymer such as

2.

Sub coating -by adding bulking agents such as calcium carbonate or talc in

3.

Smoothing process

4.

5.

6.

Shellac, cellulose acetate phthalate and polyvinyl acetate phthalate, which

protects the core from moisture, increasing its shelf life.

combination with sucrose solution.

application of sucrose syrup.

Colouring

included.

-remove rough layers formed in step 2 with the

- for aesthetic purposes often titanium based pigments are

Polishing - effectively polished to give characteristic shine, commonly using

beeswax, carnauba wax.

Printing -indelible ink for characterisation.

Simplified representation of sugar

coating process

Process details
Typically tablets are sugar coated by a panning technique. The simplest form would
be a traditional sugar-coating pan with a supply of drying air (preferably of variable
temperature and thermostatically controlled) and a fan-assisted extract to remove
dust- and moisture-laden air.
Methods of applying the coating syrup include manually using a ladle, and,
automatic control. In modern equipment some form of automatic control is available
for the application of coating syrups.

Ideal characteristics of sugar-coated tablets

1-tablets must comply with finished product specifications and any
appropriate compendial requirements.
2- Sugar-coated tablets should ideally be of a perfectly smooth rounded
contour with even colour coverage. Most manufacturers take advantage of
the aethetic appeal of a sugar-coated tablet and polish to a high gloss.
3-Any printing should be distinct, with no smudging or broken print.

Coating faults
These are usually associated with process defects, such as splitting of the
coat on storage, caused by inadequate drying during the coating application.

Film coating
Approach to coating tablets, capsules, or pellets by
polymeric material.

surrounding them with a thin layer of

Advantages
Produce tablets in a single step process in relatively short period of time. Process enables
functional coatings to be incorporated into the dosage form.
Disadvantages
There are environmental and safety implications of using organic solvents as well as their
financial expense.
Process:
Single stage process, which involves spraying a coating solution containing the following;
1. Polymer
2. Solvent
3. Plasticizer
4. Colourant
The solution is sprayed onto a rotating tablet bed followed by drying, which facilitates the
removal of the solvent leaving behind the deposition of thin film of coating materials around
each tablet.

Polymers used in film coating

Ideal characteristics of a film coating polymer
Solubility
The polymer should have good solubility in aqueous fluids to facilitate the
dissolution of the active ingredient. However, for modified release the
polymer system should have low water solubility

Viscosity
The polymers should have a low viscosity for a given concentration. This will
permit the easy, trouble-free spraying of their solutions in industrial film
coating equipment.

Permeability
the polymers should be efficient barriers against the permeability of water
Vapour or other atmospheric gases. These properties vary widely between
the individual polymers.

Mechanical properties
polymer chosen for a film coat formulation must :
Be of adequate strength to withstand the impact and abrasion encountered
in normal handling. Insufficient coating strength will be demonstrated by
the development of cracks and other imperfections in the coating.
comply with the relevant regulatory and pharmacopoeial requirements
current in the intended marketing area.
Examples of the polymers used;
- Cellulose derivatives e.g. MC, HPC, HPMC
- Methacrylate amino ester copolymers.

Plasticizer used in film coating

Plasticizers are generally added to film coating formulations to modify the physical
properties of the polymer to make it more usable. One important property is their
ability to decrease film brittleness

Examples;
Polyols - Polyethylene glycol 400
Organic esters - diethyl phthalate
Oils/glycerides - fractional coconut oil

Colourants used in film coating

Examples; Iron oxide pigments, Titanium dioxide, and Aluminium lakes.
Water insoluble pigments are more favourable than water soluble colours for the
following reasons;
Better chemically stability in light
Optimised impermeability to water vapour
Better opacity
Better covering ability

Solvents used in film coating

Modern techniques now rely on water as a polymer solvent because of the
significant drawbacks that readily became apparent with the use of organic
solvents.
The disadvantages of organic solvents for the process:
1. Environmental: the venting of untreated organic solvent vapor into the atmosphere
is ecologically unacceptable, and efficient solvent vapor removal from gaseous
effluent is expensive.
2. Safety: organic solvents provide explosion, fire and toxic hazards to plant operators.
3. Financial: the use of organic solvents necessitates the building of flame- and
explosion-proof facilities. Ingredient cost is also comparatively high, and the
associated costs of storage and quality control must also be taken in to consideration.
4. Solvent residues: for a given process the amount of residual organic solvent in the
film must be investigated. With increasing regulatory pressure this will become an
area for additional control in the future

Process details
The vast majority of film coated tablets are produced by a process
which involves spraying of the coating material on to a bed of
tablets. Accela Cota is one example of equipment used for film
coating.

Basic process requirements for film coating

1. Adequate atomizing the spray liquid for application to the tablet cores.
2. Adequate mixing and agitation of the tablet bed.
3. Sufficient heat input to provide the latent heat of evaporation of the solvent.
This is particularly important with aqueous-based spraying
4-Good exhaust facilities to remove dust- and solvent-laden air.

Ideal characteristics of film-coated tablets

Film-coated tablets should display
An even coverage of film and colour.
No abiasion of tablet edges or crowns.
Logos and break lines should be distinct and not filled in.
The tablet must also be within specifications and any relevant compendial
requirements.

Coating faults
These arise from two distinct causes:
1. Processing: for example, inadequate drying conditions will permit coating
previously deposited on the tablet surface to stick against neighbouring
tablets. When parted, this will reveal the original core surface
underneath.

2. Formulation faults: film cracking or bridging of break lines are examples

of this type. After taking due account of the mechanical properties of the
film, reformulation will almost certainly be successful in overcoming the
problem

Why is film coating favoured over sugar coating ?

Film coating

Sugar coating

Tablet appearance
Tablet appearance
Rounded with high degree of polish
Retains shape of original core
Larger weight increase 30-50% due to
Small weight increase of 2-3% due to
coating material
coating material
Logo or break lines are possible
logo or break lines possible
Process
Process
Difficult to automated e.g. traditional coating pan
Can be automated e.g. Accela Cota
Considerable training operation required
Easy training operation
Multistage process
Single stage process
Not able to be used for controlled release
Easily adaptable for controlled release
apart from enteric coating.
allows for functional coatings.

coating pans

fluid beds

PRESS COATING
involves the compaction of granular material around an already preformed
Core using compression equipment similar to that used for the core itself,.

press coating is used

to separate chemically incompatible materials, one or more being placed in the core
and the other(s) in the coating layer. However, there is still an interface contact left
between the two layers. In cases where even this is important then the process of
pre coating can be taken one stage further. It is possible to apply two press coatings
to a tablet core using suitable equipment. This equipment produces press-coated
tablets with perfect separation between active core and coating, as the two can be
separated by an inert middle layer.

Functional coatings
Functional coatings are coatings, which perform a
pharmaceutical function.
These include;
Controlled release coating
Enteric coating
Multiparticulates (Pellets or Beads), find favor over conventional nondisintegrating tablets for controlled release use, owing to a number of factors:
1. Their small size (typically 0.72.00 mm) allows them to pass through the
constricted pyloric sphincter and distribute themselves along the
gastrointestinal tract. This tends to overcome the disadvantage that whole
tablets have of a rather irregular passage through the gastrointestinal tract
and consequent irregular absorption

2. Whole, non-disintegrating tablets can be liable to lodge in restrictions within the

gastrointestinal tract, and this can lead to ulcerative damage to the gastric mucosa
as the drug solution is leached out from the tablet. Because of their small size, this
is not a problem with multiparticulates

3-Should an individual bead or pellet fail and release all of its contents at once the
patient Would not be exposed to any undue risk. This is Certainly not the case if a
non-disintegrating tablet failed, when the consequences would Potentially be
serious

Types of multiparticulate
Extruded/spheroflized granulates
produced in modified granulating equipment , with the drug granulation extruded through
a mesh or other device under pressure to form small granulates which are
subsequently spheronized.
Non-pareilsThese are sucrose spheres which are coated with the drug plus an adhesive
water-soluble polymer (Fig 28.4). After their formation and any necessary intermediate
steps such as drying, they may be coated with the controlled-release coating.

Mechanisms of drug release from multiparticulates

1. Diffusion
On contact with the aqueous fluids of the gastrointestinal tract, water will enter
the interior of the particle by diffusion. Dissolution of the drug will occur and
drug solution will diffuse across the controlled-release coat to the exterior.

2. Erosion
Some coatings can be designed to erode gradually with time, thereby
releasing the drug contained within the pellet.

3. Osmosis
In allowing water to enter, an osmotic pressure can be built up within the
interior of the pellet. drug solution will be forced out of the pellet to the
exterior .

Enteric coating
The technique involved in enteric coating is protection of the tablet core from
disintegration in the acidic environment of the stomach by employing pH sensitive
polymer, which swell or solubilize in response to an increase in pH to release the drug.
The enteric polymers (CAP,PVAP, suitable acrylic derivative ) are capable of
forming a direct film in a film-coating process. Sufficient weight of enteric
polymer must be used to ensure an efficient enteric effect. This is normally two
or three times that required for a simple film coating.

Aims of Enteric protection:

To mask taste or odour
Protection of active ingredients, from the acidic environment of the stomach.
Protection from local irritation of the stomach mucosa.
Release of active ingredient in specific target area within gastrointestinal tract.

The pH status of enteric coated

polymers in the stomach
The polymers used for enteric coatings remain unionise
at low pH, and therefore remain insoluble. As the pH
increases in the gastrointestinal tract the acidic
functional groups are capable of ionisation, and the
polymer swells or becomes soluble in the intestinal
fluid.
Thus, an enteric polymeric film coating allows the
coated solid to pass intact through the stomach to the
small intestine, where the drug is then released for
absorption through the intestinal mucosa into the
human body where it can exert its pharmacologic
effects.

The ideal properties of enteric

coated material?
Permeable to intestinal fluid
Compatibility with coating solution and drug
Formation of continuous film
Nontoxic
Cheap and ease of application
Ability to be readily printed
Resistance to gastric fluids