Application of polypropylene PP in disposable medical consumables

    The sudden new crown epidemic in 2020 has caused an explosive increase in the demand for anti-epidemic materials such as masks. Melt blown PP, as the raw material for the "heart" melt blown cloth of masks, was once very in short supply. In addition to medical non-woven fabrics, what other applications does polypropylene PP have in disposable medical consumables? Let's take a closer look today.
1.Relevant requirements for medical polypropylene materials

    Polypropylene is a thermoplastic resin made by polymerization of propylene. It is currently one of the most widely used synthetic resins at home and abroad and the fastest growing output. Compared with other thermoplastic resins, PP has the advantages of wide sources, light weight and low price, non-toxic and odorless, high strength, and good thermal and chemical stability, so it is widely used in the field of medical devices.

   Since it is in contact with the liquid medicine or the human body, the basic requirement of medical plastics is to have chemical stability and biological safety. As ordinary polypropylene does not meet the requirements of producing medical plastic products in terms of sanitary performance, and its transparency is poor, its application is limited. In order to make polypropylene meet medical requirements and improve optical effects, polypropylene must be modified.

    The medical polypropylene (PP) should meet the requirements of high purity, non-toxic, non-irritating, good chemical stability, non-degradable, non-inflammatory, non-allergic, good biocompatibility, non-carcinogenic, non-causing hemolysis and coagulation, etc. Requirements, and can withstand disinfection and sterilization, such as heat sterilization (autoclave), chemical sterilization (ethylene oxide) and radiation sterilization (gamma rays, electron beam), etc. In addition, it should have the required physical and chemical properties and processing properties. The product has good anti-aging properties, yellowing, a balanced rigidity and toughness, and low sensitivity to high-energy radiation. 

2.Application of medical PP in medical consumables

Medical polypropylene is mainly used in the manufacture of medical catheters, infusion containers, splints for flat artificial kidneys, packaging materials, syringes, etc.; the film is treated with surfactants to become hydrophilic microporous membranes that can be used to make artificial lungs; fibers are used as drums Bubble oxygenator blood defoaming filter, abdominal wall patch, surgical sutures such as medical polypropylene monofilament sutures, etc.
1. PP intravenous infusion tube (Leander Basel)
2. Infusion bottle, blood collection needle (Formosa Plastics)
3. Syringe, infusion bottle, vent tube shell, etc. (Li Changrong Chemical), syringe (Sumitomo Chemical)
4. Disposable syringe (LOTTE Chemical)
5. Physiological saline solution container (LOTTE Chemical)
6. Infusion bag (LOTTE Chemical)
7. Infusion bags, syringes, etc. (Korea Hyosung)
8. PCR plate (Leander Basel)
9. Surgical sutures (Leander Basel)
   At present, Borealis, Lyondell Basel, Sasol and other international brands occupy the domestic high-end medical polypropylene product market, while there are not many domestic companies producing medical polypropylene, and their production capacity is generally small, and the market share is low. Mainly to low-end products. In addition, domestic medical polypropylene is mainly used in the field of disposable medical equipment, such as disposable infusion, blood transfusion, syringes, etc., while abroad has been widely used in laboratory equipment, high-end medical equipment, packaging materials and other fields.