Abstract
Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) have proven to be very promising materials in all areas where there is a need to retain and/or release water or aqueous medium as required, such as agriculture (water reservoir), drug delivery, baby diapers, pollution control, sanitary napkins etc. The basic chemistry of SAPs is provided by FTIR analysis while the connectivity and the foreign species present are confirmed by other techniques of instrumental analysis like NMR, EDX, OES, AAS etc. Their particle size distribution is assessed by laser diffraction. An essential feature for SAPs is their ability to hold huge amounts of water or aqueous medium in comparison to their own weight. Their morphology in dry, as well as swollen state, is observed using SEM and ESEM, but these techniques provide only qualitative information. The quantitative information about their swelling and de-swelling is obtained with the help of swelling kinetics. Therefore, SAP samples are pre-tested for their absorptivity as well as the kinetics of absorption and desorption. In this chapter, we emphasized not only the basic analytical techniques and sorptivity tests, but also focused on thermodynamics as well as rheological tests. Tests showing their porosity, soluble fraction, salt resistance, residual monomer, ionic sensitivity and degradability have also been discussed.
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