Water absorption and desorption by a superabsorbent polymer - Drying a swollen polymer by conventional heating and in a microwave field

The study of the kinetic dryness of a swollen polymer has shown that the reactions performed under pressure of water vapour are generally more quick than those realised under controlled air and pressure. The nature of the gassing the atmosphere modifies the influence of parameters (temperature and pressure) on the kinetic reaction. The use of higher masses permits a complete modification of the kinetic regime which limits the dryness reaction: it moves from a phenomena controlled by the evaporation followed by a tridimentional diffusion of the small masses, to a phenomena governed by a tridimentional diffusion of the high masses heated conventionally. To examine l'effect of microwave field, we have dry a swollen polymer under a microwave field. The analysis of the results shows that the held interacts with the polymer, which provokes its degradation in the case where the employed forces are crucial (up to 100 W). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.