A novel pharmaceutical excipient: Coprecipitation of calcium and magnesium silicate using brine-seawater in date palm cellulose as an absorbing host

This research aims to produce a cost competitive and innovative pharmaceutical additive with multi-purpose use in the pharmaceutical industry from Saudi Arabia natural resources and bio-wastes. The waste substance, brine, and the naturally occurring compound, sodium silica, were reacted together to produce water insoluble calcium and magnesium silicate salts [WISS]. The purity index WISS was compared with synthetic Mg silicae.The produced particle size was 1.994 µm. Date palm cellulose [DPC] with a high purity index [0.99] was produced from the biomass waste of date palm tree. DPC was used as a host for coprecipitation of synthetic calcium magnesium silicate within its intimate structures. The interaction between the cellulose polymer and silicates is physical in nature. WISS-DPC was more flowable than DPC. In SEM, the particles of DPC were fibrous and irregular in shape, while WISS-DPC showed more regular shape than DPC. Tablets prepared from WISS-DPC were harder and had lower disintegration time at all compression forces compared to those made from DPC. The produced excipient had excellent compaction and disintegration properties and could be used as a superdisintegrant and tablet binder in pharmaceutical industries.