High-barrier transparent films revolutionize medical packaging

Aclar® Flex is a moisture barrier transparent film produced by Honeywell Specialty Film. It is designed for medical flexible applications such as overwraps, medical bags, pouches, and lidding crystal clear polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE) film. It fulfills the market need for transparent high-barrier medical packaging protection.

It uses a special manufacturing process that provides up to 10 times the barrier protection of conventional transparent packaging films like polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP).

In addition to its excellent moisture barrier properties, other properties of the film are as follows:
 

• It is biochemically inert, chemically resistant, and plasticizer/stabilizer free
• Its flex-crack-resistance exceeds oxide-coated barrier films and foils
• It can be sterilized using an autoclave or other sterilization methods
• It is metal detection system-friendly

These properties make Aclar® Flex fluoropolymer film extremely useful for packaging a variety of medical devices, diagnostic kits, and other medical applications. This includes new drug delivery technologies providing medicine that patients wear, inhale, or dissolve in the mouth, as well as micronized pulmonary delivery systems.

The film's exceptional clarity permits healthcare staff and end users to visually inspect and identify the contents of packages that were once opaque. This simplifies quality control and reduces medical errors. Chemical inertness allows contact with special medical solutions, diagnostic reagents, and pathology specimens, and it can be sterilized using heat, gas, or gamma/beta irradiation. The film also laminates well to virtually any flexible or rigid substrate, including PVC, PETG, APET, and PP.

New films that make use of PVdC-coated PVC are broadening protective blister packaging options to provide more cost-effective, higher-barrier film alternatives. Some of these recently developed films use Solvin SA's new Diofan® Super B grades of PVdC.

This high-crystallinity PVdC offers greater barrier per unit weight than standard PVdC. The use of this next-generation PVdC allows processing costs to be minimized with fewer coating passes needed. 

In this way, Super B offers new options to undertake the development of higher-barrier films with lower coating weight. It will redefine the mid-barrier range threshold, resulting in higher-barrier transparent films that measure favorably against higher grades of PCTFE.

Klöckner Pentaplast developed a new triplex-configured PVC/PVdC/PVC film, Pentapharm® alfoil® E S03. It employs Solvin's Super B PVdC, a high-crystallinity PVdC dispersion with better barrier properties and heat resistance than standard PVdC.

The new transparent film is an extension of the leading film producer's PVdC-coated polymer film product line. It is flexible enough to support bending without cracking and has barrier properties comparable to high-barrier grades of Aclar®.

These new films are the only high-moisture/oxygen barrier PVdC-coated films that have a three-layer symmetrical structure. It is designed for higher performance on packaging lines. The films thermoform in the same temperature range as PVC mono film. 

PVC skins provide a low coefficient of friction to prevent blocking on preheat plates. They also supply more consistent material flow during the thermoforming process. These films seal well with all standard vinyl-compatible lid stocks and comply with U.S. FDA pharmaceutical packaging requirements.

The new Pentapharm® alfoil® E S03 is an economical barrier alternative to Aclar® lower barrier grade films. It provides a good cost-to-barrier ratio relative to standard PVdC films. For instance, a 120 g/weight Pentapharm® alfoil® E S03 film has twice the oxygen barrier characteristics of a 90 g/weight film using standard PVdC.