PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MARKET AVAILABLE DIAPERS: MATERIAL AND PROPERTIES

Objectives of the present study are to analyze and study market available diapers for their material and properties, which will be used for designing neonatal diapers. ISO methods were followed for analyzing the diapers along with physical and analytical techniques. Three basic layers constitute the construction of diapers. The three basic layers are skin touching layer i.e. top sheets, which needs to be biocompatible and skin friendly. The absorbent layer acts as a substrate for uptaking and withholding the urine. The backlayer acts as barrier for the flow of urine. The construction material used is different in the market available diapers. The efficiency of diaper can be gathered from the two basic characteristic, absorbency and % retention (withholding capacity). The absorbency time and %retention studies have been carried out on market available diaper. The market samples contain super absorbent polymer (SAP) along with cellulosic pulp. Low absorbency time with high %retention has revealed high use of SAP concentration in diapers. Toxicological studies were carried out as per OECD guidelines for analysing sensitivity of material on skin.