The use of fumed silica as an anti-caking agent in superabsorbent resin powder materials

last edited:April 25,2023   

  Fumed silica is a kind of ultrafine powder material obtained by high temperature hydrolysis condensation of halosilane in an oxygen-hydrogen flame. It is one of the extremely important ultrafine inorganic new materials. It has the characteristics of small particle size, ultra-high specific surface area, high surface activity, large surface energy, high chemical purity, and good dispersion performance, making it unique in many disciplines and fields and playing an irreplaceable role. Widely used in catalysts, food, medicine, thermal insulation materials and other fields, it plays the functions of adsorption, anti-caking, heat insulation and so on.

  Here is an introduction to the use of fumed silicon as an anti-caking agent in the powder material super absorbent polymer (SAP for short).

  Left: powder material without silicon gas Right: powder material with silicon gas

  The chemical composition of superabsorbent resin is low-crosslinked polyacrylic acid sodium salt, which is a new type of functional polymer water-absorbing material. It can absorb deionized water hundreds or thousands of times heavier than itself. It becomes a gel after absorbing water, and it is difficult to squeeze out water even if it is pressurized; therefore, it is used in industry, agriculture, medical treatment, and health care, such as absorbent materials for baby diapers.

  During the storage process of SAP resin powder after the production is completed, powder agglomeration often occurs due to its high water absorption, resulting in poor fluidity of the resin powder during the later use and transportation process, and even the transportation pipeline is blocked, and the ingredients are inaccurately measured, etc. .

  Before the production and packaging of SAP resin powder materials, add about 1% or even lower weight ratio of gas silicon to make it fully mixed with SAP resin powder; gas silicon can spread all over the surface of powder materials due to its small particle size, realizing the The full wrapping of SAP resin powder isolates the direct contact of SAP resin powder, thus avoiding the tendency of SAP resin agglomeration. The surface of gas silicon itself has the same charge, and the repulsive force of the same charge further improves the fluidity of the resin powder.

  The addition of fumed silicon greatly improves the storage stability and usability of the SAP resin powder.

  In various powder industries, fumed silica has been widely used as an anti-caking agent, such as powdered food (milk powder, coffee, seasoning), powder coatings, pesticides, feed and other powder products.

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