Sumitomo Seika Chemicals Co., Ltd.

Other

Kimihiko Kondo

Masayoshi Handa

Junichi Takatori

Ayaka Watanabe

Nobutaka Fujimoto

Shigeki Hamamoto

Morio Nakamura

Yasuhiro Nawata

Masato Fujikake

Takao Okada

Takayasu Taniguchi

Koji Ueda

Noriko Honda

One purpose of the present invention is to provide a water-absorbent resin having excellent water absorption characteristics and being capable of improving the shape-retaining characteristics of a water-absorbent material when used in the water-absorbent material. A water-absorbent resin obtained by performing reversed phase suspension polymerization of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer in a hydrocarbon dispersion medium, using a radical polymerization initiator, said resin being capable of having both excellent absorption performance and shape retention in a water-absorbent material using the water-absorbent resin, as a result of fulfilling the conditions of: (1) having a water-retention capacity of physiological saline of at least 38 g/g; (2) having a water-absorption capacity of physiological saline under a load of 4.14 kPa of at least 15 ml/g; and (3) having a tan &#x3b4; of a 50-fold swollen gel of at least 2.10&#xd7;10.

Water-absorbent resin, water-absorbent material, and water-absorbent article

The present invention may provide a process for producing a water-absorbent resin by employing a reversed suspension polymerization method, by which a water-absorbent resin having a small particle size and a narrow particle size distribution can be produced. The process for producing a water-absorbent resin may include subjecting a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer to a reversed phase suspension polymerization in a petroleum hydrocarbon dispersion medium containing a surfactant and a polymeric dispersion agent, wherein the polymeric dispersion agent is a polymeric protective colloid having a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 2,000 to 15,000 and a molecular weight distribution (Mw/number average molecular weight (Mn)) of 3 to 50.

Method for producing water-absorbent resin

A method for producing a water-absorbent resin includes a polymerization step of polymerizing a polymerizable component containing a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer dissolved in water using a water-soluble azo-type radical polymerization initiator to obtain a reaction system including a water-absorbent resin precursor, and a dehydration step of removing water from the reaction system by heating. In the dehydration step, a water-soluble radical polymerization initiator is added to the reaction system at any first dehydration stage when the residual water rate calculated by the formula (1) is 50% or more, and a reducing substance is added to the reaction system at any second dehydration stage when the residual water rate decreases from that at the first dehydration stage by 10% or more. According to this production method, a water-absorbent resin having satisfactory water-absorption capacity can be produced while suppressing the content of residual monomers. 

A method for producing a water-absorbent resin by a reversed-phase suspension polymerization method, includes step 1 of dispersing a first aqueous solution containing a partially neutralized product (A) of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid groups in the molecule in a petroleum-type hydrocarbon dispersion medium in the presence of a dispersing agent, and then polymerizing the resulting dispersion to obtain a slurry containing primary particles of a polymer, and step 2 of adding a second aqueous solution containing a partially neutralized product (B) of a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid groups in the molecule to the slurry obtained in step 1, and then polymerizing the mixture to obtain a slurry in which the primary particles are agglomerated. In the method, a molar neutralization degree X of the partially neutralized product (A) and a molar neutralization degree Y of the partially neutralized product (B) are defined.

A method for producing a highly concentrated aqueous acrylic amide-based polymer dispersion which is inexpensive, good in fluidity and easy to handle is provided. The method comprises polymerizing a water-soluble monomer composition containing an acrylic amide monomer in an aqueous solution of an inorganic salt in the presence of a homopolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and/or a copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and other monomer(s).

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Himeji, Japan

Kimihiko Kondo