A study in the development of functional materials for diaper suited for person of advanced age

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The object of this study is to develop functional get materials for diaper suited for advanced age. The gels examined were prepared by irradiating aqueous solutions of poly (vinyl alcohol)(PVA) and poly (ethylene oxide)(PEO) with gamma ray of cobalt 60. The swelling behaviors in pure water or aqueous solutions of the alkali metal, alkaline earth metal salts, urea and anionic surfactants were investigated. The ion- and solute- specific swellings were observed : for example, PVA get deswelled in the solutions containing strongly hydrated anions, and swelled in the solutions containing strongly hydrated cations. These results were interpreted in terms of the interactions between the polymer and the ion through the hydration layers. PEO get swelled abruptly in the aqueous anionic surfactant solution of the concentration over the critical micelle concentration. The swelling was reasonably understood by assuming that the anionic surfactant interacts with the PEO chains to form polyanion. The swelling degree of PEO gels in anionic surfactant solution and the surfactant concentration at which the gel swelled abruptly were affected by added simple salts, for example, sodium chloride, mainly through the interactions between the surfactant and the salts. The specific interactions as mentioned above is found to be important for designing of functional gel materials for diaper suited for advanced age.