Investigation of water absorption performance of polyester-woven fabrics coated with super absorbent polymer

Abstract

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) constitute a special class of polymers widely used in various fields, especially in the hygiene and healthcare sectors. This study investigates the feasibility of achieving high water absorption capacity surfaces by coating powdered SAP using conventional coating methods onto textile surfaces. For this purpose, water-based coating pastes containing micronized SAP powder based on acrylamide/acrylic acid copolymer were coated onto polyester (PES)-woven fabric surfaces using a knife-over-roll coating technique. As the working parameters, the pH value of the coating paste, the coating thickness (the distance between the cloth and the knife), the drying/fixing temperature and time, the SAP concentration, and the water absorption capacity according to time were investigated. The results were evaluated by applying the coating thickness, the amount of coating material transferred to the fabric on the SAP-coated samples, water absorbing capacity, and centrifugal water retention tests. The obtained results have demonstrated that textile surfaces with high water absorption capacity (on average 200%-350%) can be achieved by coating hydrophobic fabric surfaces, such as PES, with SAP under suitable conditions.