Super Absorbents offer unparalleled liquid absorption and retention capabilities, and are used across a wide range of industries and applications such as wound care, cable and filtration, food packaging, hygiene and structural waterproofing. For more than three decades, Technical Absorbents has stood at the forefront of this industry, leading the way in designing, manufacturing and supplying a comprehensive range of Super Absorbent Fabrics, Fibres and Yarns. But, what exactly is a Super Absorbent and how do we define it?
Super Absorbents Defined and Refined.
Image: superabsorbent definition from Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/)
As you can see from the image above, the Cambridge Dictionary defines a Superabsorbent as being “able to take a larger amount of liquid than normal in through the surface and hold it”. At Technical Absorbents we specialise in creating Superabsorbent Fibres, Fabrics and Yarns that can absorb large volumes of liquid, often exceeding their weight multiple times over. However, as you can see from the definition, absorption is only half of the job. It’s important that our products not only absorb liquids but also hold onto and retain them, this is where Technical Absorbents super absorbent technology excels!
We manufacture a wide range of Superabsorbents, each expertly designed, tested and refined before reaching our online store for sampling. Our experts are also on hand to design and manufacture bespoke Superabsorbents to meet more specific customer requirements.
How Much Liquid Can A Superabsorbent Store?
There is no defined amount of liquid that material needs to absorb or retain to be categorised as a Super Absorbent. However, it is generally accepted that a Super Absorbent can absorb and store at least its weight in liquid and hold many times more than standard absorbent materials. Some of our most absorbent fabrics can absorb litres of water before reaching capacity.
Retention Perfection
If you imagine a regular absorbent such as a paper towel – when dealing with a spill, a paper towel will absorb some of the liquid. However, it fails when it comes to retention as the liquid will drip on contact and expel when squeezed or wrung. Superabsorbents are engineered to absorb liquid and actually lock it away, meaning that you will get minimal drips or leakage even when absorbing high volumes of liquid.
How Do Superabsorbents Work?
By now, you’re likely familiar with the primary function of Super Absorbents – absorbing substantial quantities of liquid and effectively retaining it to prevent drips and leaks.
Super Absorbents consist of lengthy polymer chains. These chains are cross-linked to ensure structural integrity and prevent disintegration when exposed to large volumes of liquid.
Within these polymer chains, specific sites exist to attract and securely hold onto liquid. Consequently, when Super Absorbents come into contact with liquid, they undergo expansion and swelling to accommodate the influx of liquid. This expansion continues as more liquid is absorbed.
Yet, there’s a crucial point where the superabsorbent’s capacity to stretch reaches its limit due to the presence of cross-links. Beyond this point, it ceases to absorb additional liquid.
What’s The Best Water/Liquid Absorbing Material?
We often get asked, what is our best water/liquid absorbing fabric/material. It is important to note that all our fabrics absorb large volumes of water. However, we do have a couple of extremely high absorbers! Type 2654 is an airlaid nonwoven and 5.2mm thick and 620gsm. It can absorb up to 65g/g in water!
Type 7004 is one of the highest absorbing fabrics from our needlefelt range. It is 7.6mm thick and 570gdm. It can absorb a staggering 69 g/g.
We have a range of Superabsorbent options, depending on your requirements. The below are some examples to illustrate what we can manufacture. However, we have many more samples listed here: https://tech.s4cms.co.uk/samples/
What Other Absorbent Materials Do We Manufacture?
We have a wide range of Superabsorbent options, depending on your requirements. The below are some examples to illustrate what else we can manufacture. However, we have many more fibre, fabric and yarn options listed here: https://tech.s4cms.co.uk/samples/
Fibres:
Our longest super absorbent fibres are 52mm or 80mm. These are typically used within Carded Fabrics – Needlepunch, Thermobonds or Spun Yarns. They can be blended with other fibres to create a finished fabric or yarn.
Our shortest super absorbent fibres are 6mm. These are typically used within Airlaid Fabrics where they are blended with cellulosic and, in some cases, thermal-bondable fibres.
Fabrics:
Our thinnest superabsorbent material is from our ThermoBond range. We call the fabric Type 2111, and it is 0.49mm thick and 35gsm. It is extremely flexible and conformable and can be considered as an absorbent layer within disposable period products or wound care dressings. It can also be used in power and fibre optical cables as a water-blocking tape.
Conclusion
When researching a Superabsorbent for your product, we have learnt that the amount of water an absorbent can hold isn’t always necessarily always the key consideration for customers. If you are struggling to find the best Superabsorbent for your particular product/application, why not reach out to a member of the Technical Absorbents team? Our expert staff can work with you to find the best solution.
Enjoyed our blog article? Check back each month for new educational articles about Superabsorbent fibres, fabrics and yarns.
