Application of the most popular pharmaceutical pac

Application of pharmaceutical packaging and printing materials

at present, due to the rapid renewal of pharmaceutical packaging materials, the old packaging materials have been gradually eliminated, such as the packaging of drugs in glass bottles, the packaging of drugs in iron containers, paper bag packaging, etc. However, a large number of new drug packaging have been put into the market, such as blister packaging for drug packaging, plastic film (bag) for flexible packaging of Chinese patent medicine and aluminum-plastic composite film

the blister flexible packaging of drugs is made by hot pressing aluminum foil for drug packaging with PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or PVDC (polyvinylidene chloride). This kind of printing can be used as the packaging of drugs, which has developed rapidly in recent years. Some foreign institutions such as the flexible packaging Assn. in the United States predict that "looking forward to the next five years, the flexible packaging of drugs is a new economic growth point in the packaging market. In addition to the strong development momentum of medical products, the dosage controllable thermoformed extruded blister packaging (replacing the packaging of bulk or bottled drugs) will grow rapidly." The recent market survey results in China show that in the next five years, blisters and drug flexible packaging materials will continue to grow at an average annual rate of 5% - 10%, exceeding the annual growth rate of 3% of pharmaceutical commodities. This is mainly because China is changing the form of solid dosage form drug packaging materials, from glass bottles and paper bags in the early days to plastic printing blister materials; The packaging of granules, powders, powders and capsules of traditional Chinese medicine has also been transformed into flexible packaging of plastic composite films and aluminum-plastic composites. This paper will introduce the properties, characteristics and application scope of this new kind of pharmaceutical packaging and printing materials

1 Characteristics and application of blister packaging printing materials

blister packaging of drugs is also known as blister eye packaging, which is abbreviated as PTP (PRES has repeatedly been rated as the 1s through package of the fastest-growing Development Zone in Jiangsu Province). This kind of drug packaging form has many advantages: it provides patients with a single dose of drug packaging method, which can be torn manually, which is convenient and economical; The aluminum foil used for blister packaging can be printed into various colors and has the method of taking drugs. The dispenser can avoid the wrong distribution and mixing of drugs in the distribution of a variety of tablets; Blister packaging has good protective performance, excellent drug resistance and chemical stability; The production speed is fast and the cost is relatively low; Small storage space, light weight and convenient transportation; Good safety performance

pharmaceutical blister printing and packaging materials include aluminum foil, plastic hard pieces and heat sealing coatings. Aluminum foil is a sealing material sealed on a hard plastic sheet, also known as a capping material. Based on pure aluminum for industrial use, it has excellent properties such as non-toxic, corrosion-resistant, impermeable, heat and moisture resistance, light resistance and high-temperature sterilization; It also has good printability, and both sides can print text patterns. The thickness of aluminum foil used for printing is usually between 0.021 ~ 0.027mm, which is composed of aluminum foil layer, printing ink layer, protective layer and adhesive layer

because drugs are very sensitive to moisture and light transmission, the blister printing materials used are required to have high barrier properties to water, gas, light, etc. Generally, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) or composite materials are selected, such as pvc/pvdc (polyvinyl chloride/polyvinylidene chloride) composite, pvc/pe (polyvinyl chloride/polyethylene) composite, pvc/pvdc/pe (polyvinyl chloride/polyvinylidene chloride/polyethylene) composite, etc. In use, it is found that PVC materials are not ideal in terms of moisture and gas resistance of drugs. Now PVDC and its composites are mostly used. Compared with materials of the same thickness, PVDC has 1500 times the ability to block oxygen in the air as PVC, 100 times as polypropylene (PP) and 100 times as polyester (PET). Its performance of blocking water vapor and odor is also better than PVC. For example, some vitamin E capsules packed in PVC have adhered to the wall and flowed before taking them. There are also some Chinese patent medicines that need high barrier packaging, especially those with oxygen barrier packaging, such as Shangshi Zhitong ointment, which uses PVDC film, so the smell will not be lost and the curative effect will not be affected. In addition, the printing ink for medicinal aluminum foil should have the characteristics of good adhesion to aluminum foil substrate, good heat resistance, good gloss and non-toxic. At present, alcohol soluble polyamide ink and aluminum foil special ink with polyethylene vinyl acetate copolymerization resin acrylic acid as the main component are mainly used

2 application status of other new materials for flexible packaging and printing of drugs

 strip packaging printing film sp (strip packaging)

it is a form of unit packaging that uses two layers of pharmaceutical strip packaging film (SP) to clamp the drugs in the middle, separate the unit drugs by a certain distance, heat seal the inside of the two layers of SP film around the drugs on the strip packaging machine, and press tooth marks between the drugs? Strip packaging is a continuous operation on the strip packaging machine, which is especially suitable for automatic packaging in large quantities? When taking drugs, you can tear the SP film along the tooth mark, so that taking one dose of drugs will not affect the packaging and storage of other drugs. For some large dosage forms of drug packaging, such packaging can be used for drugs that require strong moisture absorption, UV light resistance, heat and cold resistance, and require a long period of validity

this strip packaging and printing film is an aluminum-plastic composite film, which has a certain tensile strength and elongation. It is suitable for solid drugs of various shapes and sizes, and is not easy to produce cracks and wrinkles. At present, the commonly used aluminum-plastic printing composite films are: pt/al/pe (cellophane/aluminum foil/polyethylene) composite, pet/al/pe (polyester/aluminum foil/polyethylene) composite, Aluminum clip moves up and down, and the foil is laminated or extruded with adhesive. The internal structure is composed of base course, printing layer, high resistance partition layer and sealing layer. The base layer is outside, the thermal seal layer is inside, and the high resistance barrier layer and printing layer are in the middle. It is required that the base material has excellent mechanical properties, gloss, good printability, good barrier property, safety and non-toxic. Pet is the basic printing material used? Pt and cellophane with PVDC coating. The high resistance barrier layer should have good gas barrier, moisture resistance, no penetration of bacteria and microorganisms, good mechanical properties, certain elongation, cold resistance, heat resistance, safety and non-toxic. The typical material used is soft aluminum foil. This kind of soft aluminum foil is opaque, rust free and has strong shading. If transparent strip packaging film is required, PVDC is selected as high barrier material, which can block gas? Water vapor can keep the original taste and effect of drugs well? The sealing layer is the inner layer of strip packaging film, which has excellent heat sealing performance, chemical stability and health safety. LDPE (low density polyethylene) material can be selected. At present, the foreign pharmaceutical strip packaging film has developed from double-layer to multi-layer composite

 ● vacuum aluminum coating

this material is a kind of flexible packaging film product that evaporates aluminum onto various base films under high vacuum, and the aluminum coating is very thin. PETP is widely used in the outer packaging of powders, granules and powders of Chinese patent medicines? CPP? PT broke the monopoly of foreign catalysts? 0PP? Among vacuum aluminized films such as PE, is PETP the most used? CPP? PE vacuum aluminum coating. In addition to the characteristics of plastic base film, vacuum aluminized soft film packaging also has beautiful decoration and good barrier property. Especially, after aluminizing various plastic substrates, their light transmittance, oxygen permeability and vapor permeability are reduced by dozens or hundreds of times. Used in the packaging of drugs, it can prevent drugs from mildew, moisture and deterioration, and ensure the drug safety of consumers

 ● biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film

this kind of film has good transparency, heat resistance and barrier properties, and is used for the outer layer of composite bags for flexible packaging of drugs. Compounding it with LDPE and EVA (ethylene copolymer) or aluminum foil with good heat sealing performance can greatly improve the stiffness and physical properties of the composite film? If the BOPP base film is coated with PVPC with good moisture-proof and barrier properties, its impermeability can be greatly improved

 ● polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) film some recycling industry officials in China also explained that

it is a plastic film printing material with the best barrier performance. It is divided into heat-resistant coating films, such as gas barrier PP? CPE (salivary polyethylene), pet and coated PVDC film. The development of low-cost PVDC coating composite film can be used not only in drug packaging, but also in heat-resistant coating and packaging of heated food. PVDC film is widely used in natural dairy products. It has oxygen resistance and can prevent mold from producing CO2 during its ripening process. At the same time, it can also be designed as a gas blocking PVDC film bag with a pressure reducing valve. It can be used under high temperature and high humidity conditions. During transportation and storage, it has excellent resistance to oxygen and moisture? Medicine? PVDC coated composite film for food is used to make high-temperature cooking sterilization bags and fresh-keeping and anti-corrosion bags in China? At present, the imported PVPC coating film has been widely used in the packaging of meat, cakes, tea and solid drinks, and plays a role in preventing water loss, blocking gas, maintaining flavor, corrosion prevention, preservation and so on

 ● fluorohalogenated hydrocarbon film, the future printing material for flexible packaging of drugs

this plastic film is a copolymer of chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE), which is nonflammable and has excellent barrier performance. The film has a unique range of applications. There are two kinds of such films, namely CTFE and ethylene trifluoroethylene copolymer? CTFE film is still soft below -160 ℃, and its melting point is between 182 ℃ ~ 204 ℃, depending on its quality and degree of crystallization? CTFE is chemically inert and can withstand metals? Ceramics and other plastics can not withstand the erosion of strong chemicals? In addition, the water vapor transmittance of CTFE film is lower than that of any plastic film. In fact, its moisture absorption is equal to zero, and it can be compounded with various substrates, such as PE (polyethylene)? PVC (polyvinyl chloride)? Pet (polyester)? NY (nylon)? Al (aluminum foil) composite can also be sprayed or plated with metal by vacuum spraying aluminum method? CTFE film and its composites are mainly used to pack tablets and capsules that need high moisture resistance

the application of flexible packaging printing materials mentioned above ensures the barrier and safety required by drug packaging. Therefore, it is widely used in pharmaceutical tablets, capsules, Chinese patent medicine powders and powders, and is a promising printing material for flexible packaging of drugs

source: PRINT world