Description

Sodium Polyacrylate:

Sodium Polyacrylate Powder:

SPA, otherwise known as the super-slurper, acrylic sodium salt polymer, and simply ASAP, is a super-absorbent chemical polymer (i.e., it can absorb water many times its weight) extensively used in a range of consumer goods.

CAS No.  9003-04-7

Properties:

PASS is a synthetic polymer used in cosmetics and personal care products in part because of its ability to absorb as much as 500 times its mass in water. It is seen as a white powder when dry but turns into a gel-like substance when wet, and primarily used as a thickening agent.

Specifications of Sodium Polyacrylate Powder:

Item	PASS
Appearance	White fine powder
Centrifugal Retention Capacity g/g	≥30
Absorbency Under Load g/g	≥28
Absorbency Under Load	≥20
Absorption Speed  (by Vortex Method)	≤80
Particle Size	230-100 mesh
pH  Value	5.6-6.5
% of moisture	≤7

Commercial Uses:

It is also used in a variety of formulas because of its other properties, including as an absorbing agent, emulsion stabilizer, film former, emollient, and viscosity increasing agent. It also used as a sequestering agent in cleansers and detergents because of its ability to bind to hard water elements like calcium and magnesium, allowing the surfactants to work more effectively.

It has received FDA approval and is classified as GRAS, or Generally Recognized as Safe. It is also CIR approved for use in cosmetics and personal care products.

Polymeric Gel:

Sodium Polyacrylate crystallizes as a white powder. It takes up water as much as 400 to 500 times its Dry size and swells to form a polymeric gel.

Mechanism:

This polymer can retain excessive amounts of water because of the osmotic pressure (i.e., movement of water through a semipermeable membrane). Osmotic pressure induced by the high water concentration outside a sodium polyacrylate molecule draws the water into the center of the molecule. Polymer continues to absorb the water until there is an equal pressure of water inside and outside the sodium polyacrylate molecule.

It is also the most common variety of acryl polymers used in the industry.

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