The Potassium Neutralizing Agent Can Be Used To Make Superabsorbent Polymers, Such As Potassium Polyacrylamide And Potassium Polyacrylate

 

Super Absorbent Polymers 

Super Absorbent Polymers are polymeric materials with high water absorbency, able to absorb 400-800 times their weight in water. Super Absorbent Polymers is widely used in personal and hygiene products such as adult diapers, baby diapers, and sanitary napkins. Super Absorbent Polymers are most commonly used in diaper manufacturing, but they also have agricultural applications. Because of their excellent water absorption and holding capacity, they are in high demand in construction and waste management applications, which is expands Super Absorbent Polymers demand.

A Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP) (also known as slush powder) is a water-absorbing polymer that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of liquid relative to its own mass. When water-absorbing polymers are mixed, they form hydrogels and absorb aqueous solutions via hydrogen bonding with water molecules. The ability of a SAP to absorb water is affected by the ionic concentration of the aqueous solution. In deionized and distilled water, a Super Absorbent Polymers can absorb 300 times its weight (from 30 to 60 times its own volume) and become up to 99.9% liquid, but in 0.9% saline solution, the absorbency drops to about 50 times its weight. The presence of valence cations in the solution inhibits the polymer's ability to bond with the water molecule.

The type and degree of cross-linkers used to create the gel control the SAP's total absorbency and swelling capacity. Low-density cross-linked SAPs have a higher absorbent capacity and swell to a greater extent. These SAPs also have a softer and stickier gel formation. High cross-link density polymers have a lower absorbent capacity and swell, and the gel strength is firmer and can maintain particle shape even under low pressure.

SAPs are most commonly found in personal disposable hygiene products like baby diapers, adult diapers, and sanitary napkins. Because of concerns about a link to toxic shock syndrome in the 1980s, SAP was banned from use in tampons. SAP is also used to prevent water penetration in underground power or communications cables, self-healing concrete, horticultural water retention agents, spill and waste aqueous fluid control, and artificial snow for film and stage production. The first commercial use was in 1978 in Japan for feminine napkins and disposable bed liners for nursing home patients in the United States.