Aluminum Blister Foil Packaging for Pharma

Aluminium packaging for pharma is an excellent and important packaging material. It is made of electrolytic aluminum, which is extremely ductile and uniform in thickness. It is often used in the packaging of tablets, capsules, and granules. It Its thickness is all below 0.2mm. Aluminum foil can be used alone, but it is more commonly used in combination with paper, glass, plastic, etc.

At present, there are three main alloys of medical aluminum foils, namely 8079 aluminum foil, 8021 aluminum foil, and 8011 aluminum foil. The three mainly have a little difference in metal element content and thickness. 8011 aluminum foil, also known as PTP blister foil, has a thickness of 0.016-0.04mm.

8011 aluminum foil has a high Silicon content and contains manganese and iron, which has high strength and corrosion resistance. It is often used in the packaging of medicine capsules or the back of medicine boards in pharmaceutical packaging, and it is also used for bottled liquids. 8021 aluminum foil, also known as aluminum blister foil, has a thickness of 0.04mm-0.065mm, and is often used for the packaging of light-shielding medicines or moisture-proof medicines. 8079 aluminum’s price is a little higher compared with 8011 and 8021 aluminum foil.

Although aluminum foil is widely used in medical packaging, it is easy to form pinholes during use and reduce its barrier performance. Therefore, aluminum foil is often used in composite materials made of polymer plastics, paper or other metal sheets, integrating the shielding properties of aluminum foil with the strength of paper and the heat-sealing properties of plastics, which further improves the shielding performance of packaging materials against water, vapor, air, light, and bacteria.

Aluminum foil is mainly used in the blister packaging of tablets or capsules in pharmaceutical packaging, which not only has good barrier properties, but also is easy to puncture. Blister packaging is made by filling the drug into the hole made of plastic, and then heat-sealing the plastic hard sheet with aluminum foil coated with protective agent and adhesive. Aluminum foil for blisters can quickly complete the processes of printing, protective layer coating, adhesive layer coating and drying in one equipment, which is very suitable for mass production.

The main difficulties encountered in the production and development of aluminum foil and how to solve them:

1. Oil removal

The roll cleaner on the back-up roll of the rolling mill is modified to make the degreasing of the rolling mill itself reach the best condition.

Reduce the content of oily additives in the rolling oil and the oil pressure, and increase the temperature of the rolling oil, thereby reducing the temperature of the rolling area, reducing the thickness of the oil film and increasing the strength of the aluminum foil.

2. Surface quality control

• Oiling of coiler. During the coiling process, increase the amount of oil applied, reduce the speed, and apply oil evenly.

• Adopt dual-purpose oil with low flash point. There is no relative sliding between the two layers of aluminum foil.

• Uniform roll roughness and small diameter difference.

• Strictly control the thickness of aluminum foil before double-bonding (AGC). Welcome to leave message below to inquire blister foil specification.