Laminated Film Performance for Pharmaceutical Flexible Packaging

The pharmaceutical industry is an important application field for flexible packaging. In recent years, with the aging of the population, the growth of acute and chronic diseases, the COVID-19 epidemic and the reform of the medical security system, the demand for drugs has increased year by year, and the pharmaceutical industry has maintained rapid growth, which has greatly promoted the development of the pharmaceutical packaging industry. The demand for pharmaceutical flexible packaging market will grow at a rate of 6% annually. With the rapid development of the pharmaceutical flexible packaging industry, the performance and safety requirements of pharmaceutical flexible packaging are also increasing. Due to the need for long-term protection of the packaged drugs, pharmaceutical flexible packaging is generally a composite structure of multi-layer materials, and adhesives have become an essential key material for pharmaceutical flexible packaging.

Firstly, The types and structures of drug flexible packaging have the advantages of rich material selection, advanced technology, automation, high production efficiency, low energy consumption, and good sealing, making drug storage, transportation, and use very convenient and safe. There are various forms of packaging for drug flexible packaging, and the materials used are also different. Among them, the types of drug flexible packaging that require laminating glue are mainly as follows:

1. Bag packaging is mainly used for the packaging of drugs such as tablets, granules, powders, powders, pills, ointments, infusion preparations, etc. The main structure of packaging materials is paper plastic, paper aluminum-plastic, plastic plastic, aluminum plating, aluminum-plastic, etc. Drug packaging manufacturers supply downstream pharmaceutical factories in the form of rolled film, and then the pharmaceutical factories complete processes such as bag making, filling drugs, sealing, and cutting on the rolling tooth automatic packaging machine, achieving high-speed automated packaging of drugs.

2. Strip packaging is suitable for large-scale automatic packaging of drugs of various shapes and sizes, especially for drugs with larger dosage forms, strong dilution, sensitivity to ultraviolet light, requirements for heat and cold resistance, and long shelf life. The main packaging material is SP composite film, which is polyethylene aluminum-plastic composite film. The supply form is roll film. The drug packaging factory uses an automatic packaging machine to place the drug between two layers of SP film, then heat seal it, and press tooth mark intervals between the drugs.

3. Double aluminum packaging is similar to strip packaging, except that two layers of coated aluminum foil (mostly 17 μ) are used instead of two layers of SP film, and the application form is the same.

4. Bubble packaging is divided into aluminum-plastic type, aluminum-plastic aluminum type, and aluminum-aluminum type according to different composite structures. The aluminum-plastic packaging form is PVC hard sheet vacuum forming, which is filled with medicine and then heat sealed with PTP aluminum foil (coated with VC agent); The packaging form of aluminum-plastic aluminum (PTP tropical aluminum) is to add a layer of aluminum-plastic after punching heat sealing on the back of the PVC bubble cover. The main structure of the aluminum-plastic film is PET/AL/VC agent or PA/AL/VC agent; The packaging form of aluminum type (cold formed aluminum) is PA/AL/PVC aluminum-plastic hard sheet cold formed and then hot sealed with PTP aluminum foil.

Secondly, The performance requirements for laminating adhesive in drug flexible packaging directly affect the quality and safety of drugs. In addition to the film materials used in drug flexible packaging, laminating adhesive, as a key material in drug flexible packaging composite materials, has a huge impact on the quality and performance of drug flexible packaging materials. The relevant standards for drug packaging have specific requirements for drug packaging with different composite structures, among which the standards related to the performance of laminating adhesive are as follows: √ YBB00132002 Composite film and bag general rules for drug packaging √ YBB00172002 Composite film and bag for polyester/aluminum/polyethylene drug packaging √ YBB00182002 Composite film and bag for polyester/low-density polyethylene drug packaging √ YBB00242002 Polyamide/aluminum/polyvinyl chloride cold stamping formed solid pharmaceutical composite hard sheet √ YBB00182004 Aluminum/polyethylene cold formed solid pharmaceutical composite hard sheet √ YBB002004 Composite film and bag for glass paper/aluminum/polyethylene drug packaging √ YBB00212004 4

General rules for aluminum-plastic sealing gaskets used in pharmaceutical packaging The performance requirements for laminating adhesive in pharmaceutical soft packaging mainly include the following points:

(1) Mechanical properties: It has good adhesion strength to composite substrates, and the peel strength, heat sealing strength, and other data meet the requirements of YBB standards.

(2) High temperature resistance: The composite film has excellent high temperature resistance and is suitable for the use requirements of automatic gear rolling packaging machines.

(3) Safety performance: Meet the relevant safety requirements of YBB composite film standards, such as solvent residues, easily oxidizable substances, and dissolved substances.

(4) Other functional requirements: For example, cold formed aluminum products need to have excellent deep drawing resistance.

Lastly, At present, there are many types of adhesives used for pharmaceutical flexible packaging products in the domestic market, and their quality, safety, and stability are also uneven. The safety and performance requirements for the laminating adhesive used in pharmaceutical flexible packaging are high. Pharmaceutical packaging manufacturers should correctly select and use appropriate laminating adhesive products based on product structure and performance requirements to reduce product safety and quality issues caused by lamination issues.