New Material: A Method Of Producing Super Absorbent Material With Sisal Hemp

American scientists have developed a method of using sisal hemp to produce super absorbent materials. After improvement, this method may be used to produce disposable sanitary cotton in rural and semi-arid areas. Relevant research was published in Communication Engineering on December 1.

Manu of Stanford University Prakash and colleagues treated the fibers extracted from sisal leaves with formic acid and sodium hydroxide, and then dried and mixed them to obtain a soft material. This material may be used as the absorbent layer of disposable sanitary cotton, which is more absorbent than the cotton sanitary cotton on the market - 23.9 grams of water is absorbed per gram of material, while only 15.2 grams of water is absorbed by the latter.

To demonstrate this potential application, the researchers put the processed sisal hemp into a prototype sanitary cotton and sandwiched it between the porous upper layer and waterproof bottom layer of the commercial sanitary cotton. They estimated the raw materials and energy required for the production and processing of sisal, and compared them with the previous data on the production of softwood and bleached cotton, the latter two are commonly used materials for commercial sanitary cotton.

The study found that the production of 1kg processed sisal hemp under laboratory conditions would produce 3.5kg carbon dioxide, which would consume 44.6-119.6kg water. In contrast, the production of 1kg of processed softwood will produce 0.5 to 1.1 kg of carbon dioxide and consume 61.8 kg of water, while 1kg of bleached cotton will produce 1.6 to 5.3 kg of carbon dioxide and consume 64.5 to 139.5 kg of water.

Since sisal can be planted all year round in semi dry areas, researchers believe that sisal can be used as a substitute for cotton or softwood to produce disposable sanitary cotton locally in low and middle-income areas, especially in dry areas or areas often considered unsuitable for agriculture.