Patterns, Shapes and Growth of a Spherical Superabsorvent Polymer

Abstract

Combining experimental procedures and theoretical modeling, we studied patterns, shapes, and growth of a special type of SuperAbsorbent Polymers (SAP). At the initial stage, embed in water, we have a polygonal pattern over a spherical form, that evolves into a wrinkled deformed shape, which is then followed by an oblate ellipsoid with some of wrinkles over the surface. The final step is a slowly growing sphere. We measured the weights in function of time during the growing process. The results can be represented by an exponential function, which is derived from the general continuity equation.