Dissolution at porous interfaces VI: Multiple pore systems.

Abstract

With the aid of rapidly dissolving sodium chloride particles, cubic pores were made in the surface of a theophylline tablet. The influence of the pores on the dissolution rate of the surface was investigated in a rotating disk apparatus. Like the drilled pores used in earlier studies, downstream on the surface they caused a turbulent flow regimen with the development of a trough due to enhanced erosion. The phenomenon of a critical pore diameter, discovered with single, drilled pores, seems to be applicable to the cubic pores investigated in this study, although a higher degree of surface coverage with pores caused complications, probably due to particles bordering one another and forming larger pores. The behavior of the porous surfaces at different rotation speeds was studied. Due to the presence of pores the laminar character of the boundary layer flow changes to turbulent, which induces locally an increased dissolution flux in the wake of a pore.