Aluminum Foil for Pharmaceutical Packaging

Aluminum foil pharmaceutical packaging, with its excellent barrier properties, sealing performance, and safety, has become one of the core materials for safeguarding drug quality. From common capsule and tablet packaging to specialized ointment and powder injection packaging, pharmaceutical aluminum foil for different scenarios adheres to strict standards in alloy selection and specification setting.

PTP aluminum foil

PTP aluminum foil is mainly used for blister packaging of solid medicines such as capsules and tablets. Combined with substrates such as PVC and PET, it forms independent sealed blister packs, effectively isolating external moisture and oxygen while allowing convenient access for consumers. The core requirements for this type of aluminum foil are "easy to form, puncture-resistant, and good sealing performance." The choice of alloy and specifications directly determines the practicality and safety of the packaging.

Regarding alloy selection, the mainstream PTP aluminum foil is 8011 aluminum alloy. 8011 aluminum is an alloy made by adding small amounts of iron and silicon to pure aluminum. This composition design brings multiple advantages: Firstly, excellent ductility, perfectly adapting to blister packaging processes, reducing the likelihood of breakage or wrinkling during stamping, and ensuring the integrity of the blister shape.

Secondly, stable mechanical properties, with puncture resistance superior to pure aluminum, providing better protection for pharmaceuticals during packaging and transportation; and third, reliable hygiene and safety, with stable chemical properties that will not react with pharmaceuticals or release harmful substances, fully complying with pharmaceutical packaging standards.

Compared to pure aluminum, 8011 alloy offers more balanced overall performance, simultaneously meeting the requirements for forming, protection, and safety, thus becoming the preferred choice for PTP aluminum foil. In some cost-sensitive basic applications, 1200 and 1145 series pure aluminum are also used in small quantities, but 8011 has a higher application rate.

Cold-formed aluminum foil

8021 aluminum foil is the mainstream for cold-formed aluminum foil. In some applications with specific requirements regarding cost or forming difficulty, other 8-series alloys such as 8011 are used. 8021 alloy, through precise component ratios, achieves a tensile strength exceeding 180MPa, significantly higher than the 8011 alloy commonly used in PTP aluminum foil. It can easily withstand the dual challenges of high-pressure stamping and deep stretching in cold forming processes, resulting in containers less prone to cracking or springback after forming.

Simultaneously, it maintains ductility suitable for pharmaceutical applications, precisely fitting the complex mold shapes of suppositories, ointments, and other special dosage forms. Compared to 8011, 8021 aluminum's mechanical strength better meets the stringent requirements of rigidity and deformation resistance in cold forming, making it the preferred choice for cold-formed aluminum foil, while 8011 serves more as a supplementary option based on performance suitability.

Tropical aluminum foil

Tropical aluminum foil is primarily used for pharmaceutical packaging requiring high-temperature sterilization, such as some oral liquids and traditional Chinese medicine preparations. These packages undergo high-temperature sterilization processes exceeding 121℃ during pharmaceutical production; therefore, the aluminum foil must possess excellent heat resistance and dimensional stability, preventing deformation or delamination under high-temperature conditions.

Tropical aluminum foil is primarily made of 8-series aluminum alloys such as 8021 and 8079. These two alloys achieve a balance between heat resistance and processing performance by precisely adding elements such as iron and silicon to pure aluminum. The 8021 alloy, with its stable mechanical strength, is not prone to strength degradation at high temperatures and can withstand sterilization requirements at 121°C and above. The 8079 alloy exhibits superior ductility and heat resistance stability, making it particularly suitable for high-temperature sterilization pharmaceutical packaging requiring complex molding or long-term storage.

Their chemical properties are stable, they do not react with pharmaceuticals, and their hygiene and safety fully meet pharmaceutical standards. Compared to other alloys, they better balance high-temperature resistance, moldability, and cost control, thus becoming the core choice for tropical aluminum foil.

Haomei Aluminum can provide all these above mentioned aluminum foils. The specification is customized according to your requirements. Some common specifications like aluminum foil 12x1000 have a relatively short delivery.