What are polymers and what are water-absorbent polymers?
A polymer is a string of repeating molecules that forms a long chain. DNA is a polymer, as are starches, proteins, etc. For example, casein – the protein that makes cow’s milk – is a polymer. About 30 years ago the plastics industry was looking to change the negative image people have of the word plastics, and pick up on a friendly sounding name to confound the public so they started calling a wide-range of their plastic products ‘polymers’. Water-absorbent polymers (also known as hydro-gel, water crystals, super absorbent polymers, etc) – are simply a type of plastic that possesses some unique water absorbing qualities. What makes this polymer water absorbent is the presence of sodium or potassium molecules that form bridges between the long hydrocarbon chains. These bridges – known as cross-linking – enable the polymer to form into a huge single super-molecule (desirable for a number of reasons), including its ability to degrade in the environment and break-down into simpler molecule
