Topas®cyclic olefin copolymer from Topas Advanced Polymers has been identified as a successful alternative to Barex®polyacrylonitrile (PAN), according to the vendor. Working closely with top packaging suppliers, Topas has specified COC in a wide range of pharmaceutical packages, such as medicinal pouches and patches and other applications that require strong chemical resistance.
PAN and COC come from the opposite ends of the polymer spectrum, but they offer similar properties when it comes to barrier/permeation performance and strong chemical resistance.
While not a one-for-one replacement for PAN, COC delivers effective chemical resistance and low adsorption rates, exhibiting low reactivity with medical-grade chemical contents such as nicotine for patches. For example, COC’s resistance to methyl salicylate is similar to PAN and better than PETG, according to the vendor. COC’s adsorption of nicotine is less than that of PETG and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). Topas’ converter customers have developed nicotine patch packaging using COC for the transdermal industry.
COC is known for its high purity and excellent heat-sealing behavior and comes with broad global regulatory compliance for food contact and medical uses. Unlike PAN, Topas COC can be melt-processed by all common thermoplastic processing methods including mono and multilayer film, sheet, and extrusion coating, along with injection and extrusion blow molding.
