Milliken & Company has announced what the company describes as a breakthrough in over-the-counter pharmaceutical and nutraceutical bottles: The development of an HDPE resin hyper-nucleated with Milliken’s Hyperform® HPN-20E agent that enables a 30% improvement in moisture and oxygen barrier performance vs conventional HDPE.
Enhanced HDPE resin is used in injection/blow-molding (IBM) to produce standard-gauge bottles that deliver longer product shelf life, thinner-gauge bottles that are 15% lighter, or broader options when these benefits are combined. This application, using Hyperform HPN-20E hyper-nucleating agent, is expected to drive greater sustainability and quality in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical bottles, according to the vendor.
Hyperform HPN-20E hyper-nucleator raises the barrier properties of HDPE resins to a new level by altering crystal orientation to create a tortuous path that inhibits passage of moisture and oxygen. In effect, a permeant molecule must move through a maze of crystals that are linear and encircle the sidewalls of the bottle—a process that slows down permeation significantly.
Hyperform HPN hyper-nucleating agent enhances the economic benefits of IBM by raising manufacturing productivity through faster cycle times and offering the option to downgauge bottle designs.
The combination of improved barrier performance to sustain product quality and the potential for thinner-wall designs that use less plastic—and thus reduce processing emissions—provides value to customers in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.
