Cyclic olefin polymer
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| Other names
Polynorbornene, COP, cyclic olefin polymer
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3D model (JSmol)
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| Properties | |
| Appearance | clear resin |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Cyclic olefin polymer (COP) is a type of amorphous polymer used in a wide variety of applications including pharmaceutical packaging and medical devices, optics and displays, and electronics.
Chemical structure
[edit]COP is formed by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclic olefin monomers such as norbornene, followed by partial or total hydrogenation. Modification of the monomer structure results in polymers with a range of glass transition temperatures, stiffness and viscosities. Commercial products include Zeon Chemical's Zeonor and Zeonex and Japan Synthetic Rubber's ARTON. An alternative process involving copolymerization with ethylene is used to make cyclic olefin copolymers (COC). These two types of cyclic olefin polymers were historically referred to as COC but are now recognized as distinct classes of polymers formed from different polymerization processes. Commercial products include Mitsui Chemical's APEL and TOPAS Advanced polymers' TOPAS. Though they share many of the same physical properties, cyclic olefin polymer (COP) formed by ROMP offers greater transparency and mechanical stability[1] and its surface is more amenable to plasma treatment for optimizing cell growth.[2]
Properties
[edit]COP has superior physical properties that make it especially well suited for medical and optical applications. It exhibits high purity, low extractables and leachables, has low surface energy, and it is chemically inert. There is no risk of pH shift from released alkali ions as there is in glass containers. It is ideal for long-term storage of sensitive pharmaceuticals such as protein- or peptide-based drugs. COP has excellent dimensional stability and can reproducibly replicate micron-sized features with high aspect ratios. It is a material of choice for microfluidic medical devices and diagnostics.[3] Various fabrication methods can be used including compression molding, injection molding, laser ablation, and film extrusion to name a few. It is compatible with sterilization methods including newly developed NO2 processes.[4] COP has exceptional optical clarity and is "regarded as a class of polymer that combines the optical characteristics of glass with the design freedom of a molded plastic."[5] It exhibits extremely low birefringence which makes it well suited for optical applications such as virtual reality.
COP and COC are not compatible with non-polar solvents but have good chemical resistance to other solvents, acids and bases.
Applications
[edit]Healthcare and life sciences
[edit]COP is gaining adoption in medical, pharmaceutical and life science applications by replacing or being used in combination with other materials, yielding superior products.
In some applications such as plastic blood collection tubes (vacutainers) applying a silica-based coating by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on an injection molded COP tube results in improved safety for clinical workers without sacrificing performance.
"Combining the break resistance of plastic and the gas barrier of glass come with some benefits. For example the oxygen barrier performance of the coating is maintained after 1000 lb of compression force applied to coated vials. Furthermore, coated containers have the optical clarity and appearance of glass but are less than half the weight. The dimensional variability is 10 to 100 times lower than glass, which improves volume accuracy and reduces risk of poor sealing integrity with rubber stoppers."[6]
A similar coating is applied to COP vials for lyophilized (freeze-dried) proteins, resulting in a more predictable and consistent heat flow rate during the lyophilization process, which in turn can result in a higher quality product.[7]
Storage of cell and gene therapies presents a different set of challenges, where storage containers are frozen to liquid nitrogen temperatures and often exposed to mechanical stresses during transportation between sample collection centers and centralized manufacturing facilities. Glass vials, traditionally used for storing biopharmaceutical drug products, are not optimal for the colder storage temperatures required due to their increased potential for breakage. COP vials are an excellent choice over glass or other plastics not only because of their exceptional purity but also because of their durability over a range of temperatures and for extended periods of time, without impacting the viability of the stored material. Stem cells stored in COP vials for 6 months were shown to be as viable as fresh and frozen controls, while the vials showed no damage via drop testing and no impact to closure integrity and sterility.[8] Similarly viral vectors were stored in COP vials at -80C, resulting in greater recovery after storage compared to samples stored in glass vials.[9]
Optics
[edit]COP is a popular choice for optical applications because of its high insensitivity to moisture and thermal stability. COP has been used for polymer optical fibers because in addition to its optical qualities it maintains superior drawability over a wider temperature range than COC.[5]
COP films are also used in applications that require low birefringence such as augmented reality and virtual reality, projector lenses and head-up displays. In augmented reality devices COP films are used as plastic optical waveguides resulting in near-glass like performance but with less than half the mass. In addition, the improved flexibility allowed for easier fabrication and more design freedom.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "Applications of COC and COP polymers". EuroPlas. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
- ^ Johansson, Bo-Lennart; Larsson, Anders; Ocklind, Anette; Öhrlund, Åke (2002). "Characterization of air plasma-treated polymer surfaces by ESCA and contact angle measurements for optimization of surface stability and cell growth". Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 86 (10): 2618–2625. doi:10.1002/app.11209. ISSN 1097-4628.
- ^ Nunes, Pedro S.; Ohlsson, Pelle D.; Ordeig, Olga; Kutter, Jörg P. (2010-08-01). "Cyclic olefin polymers: emerging materials for lab-on-a-chip applications". Microfluidics and Nanofluidics. 9 (2): 145–161. doi:10.1007/s10404-010-0605-4. ISSN 1613-4990.
- ^ https://www.gerresheimer.com/fileadmin/user_upload/g_Sterilization_A4.pdf
- ^ a b Woyessa, Getinet; Rasmussen, Henrik K.; Bang, Ole (2020-07-01). "Zeonex – a route towards low loss humidity insensitive single-mode step-index polymer optical fibre". Optical Fiber Technology. 57: 102231. Bibcode:2020OptFT..5702231W. doi:10.1016/j.yofte.2020.102231. ISSN 1068-5200.
- ^ Weikart, Christopher M.; Breeland, Adam P.; Wills, Matt S.; Baltazar-Lopez, Martin E. (2020-10-01). "Hybrid Blood Collection Tubes: Combining the Best Attributes of Glass and Plastic for Safety and Shelf life". SLAS Technology. 25 (5): 484–493. doi:10.1177/2472630320915842. ISSN 2472-6303.
- ^ Sarmadi, Morteza; Holmes, Spencer; Agha, Royal; Davenport, Brandon; Weikart, Christopher; Thompson, T. N. (2023-10-23). "A comparative study of freeze-drying heat transfer in polymeric vials and glass vials". Scientific Reports. 13 (1): 18092. Bibcode:2023NatSR..1318092S. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-40777-3. ISSN 2045-2322.
- ^ Woods, Erik J; Bagchi, Aniruddha; Goebel, W Scott; Nase, Robert; Vilivalam, Vinod D (2010-07-01). "Container System for Enabling Commercial Production of Cryopreserved Cell Therapy Products". Regenerative Medicine. 5 (4): 659–667. doi:10.2217/rme.10.41. ISSN 1746-0751. PMID 20632866.
- ^ Kraft, C.; Glen, K. E.; Harriman, J.; Thomas, R.; Lyness, A. M. (2020-05-01). "Evaluation of a novel cyclic olefin polymer container system for cryopreservation of adeno-associated virus". Cytotherapy. 22 (5, Supplement): S147 – S148. doi:10.1016/j.jcyt.2020.03.300. ISSN 1465-3249.
- ^ Yoshida, Takuji; Tokuyama, Kazutatsu; Takai, Yuichi; Tsukuda, Daisuke; Kaneko, Tsuyoshi; Suzuki, Nobuhiro; Anzai, Takafumi; Yoshikaie, Akira; Akutsu, Katsuyuki; Machida, Akio (2018). "A plastic holographic waveguide combiner for light-weight and highly-transparent augmented reality glasses". Journal of the Society for Information Display. 26 (5): 280–286. doi:10.1002/jsid.659. ISSN 1938-3657.