Rheological studies on pressure-sensitive silicone adhesives and drug-in-adhesive layers as a means to characterise adhesive performance.

Pressure-sensitive adhesives are viscoelastic polymers used in the formulation of transdermal patches that allow attachment of a patch onto the skin. Established criteria exist that correlate viscoelastic parameters with adhesive performance. In this study, fulfilment of the adhesive performance criteria was examined using two silicone adhesives with different tack properties. The viscoelastic parameters of high and low tack silicone adhesives (BIO-PSA® High Tack 7-4302 and BIO-PSA® Low Tack 7-4102) were determined and compared with the criteria described by Chu and Dahlquist. Drug-in-adhesive layers were prepared using the high tack adhesive combined with nortriptyline HCl or paracetamol. The effect of drug addition on the viscoelastic properties of the adhesive was examined. The high tack adhesive showed congruence with the established criteria although with a modified range of viscoelastic moduli to that described by Chu. Examination of the low tack adhesive showed that it did not possess the appropriate viscoelastic properties for bonding onto the skin. The addition of the drugs into the high tack adhesive caused a concentration-dependent increase in its cohesive strength. This effect was independent of the physicochemical properties of the drugs tested.