Swelling capacity

The swelling capacity of a polymer is the amount of a liquid that can be absorbed by it. This test can done by two methods:
 * 1) Beaker test method
 * 2) Tea bag test method

Beaker test method
In this method
 * A small amount of superabsorbent polymer material is taken (0.1g) and it is placed in the beaker.
 * 100 ml of deionized water is poured into the beaker.
 * After 20 min the swollen polymer was separated by using [filter paper]
 * By weighing the polymer, one can find the swollen capacity of the SAP material.

Tea bag test method

 * In this method, 0.1 g of SAP material is placed into a permeable bag, which is suspended over excess water in a beaker.
 * Wait 20 min. and weigh the bag and then calculate the percentage of swelling through the following formula:
 * (w2-w1)/(w1) %
 * w1= weight of the polymer (Before swelling)
 * w2= weight of the polymer (After swelling)
 * Note: Filter paper only for removing water.