Clean and Green Technology

A diaper is an absorbent garment worn by babies until they are potty trained. The disposable baby diapers are multilayer structures consisting of layers of different materials. The disposable diapers are comprised of a polypropylene top cover stock, an absorbent layer, a polyethylene back sheet and elastic bands. The top polypropylene sheet is a hydrophilic non-woven sheet which permits the urine to pass through it and reaches the absorbent core.
The middle portion is a super absorbent polymer which helps to hold the urine away from the skin and feceal enzymes. The diapers bottom most sheet is hydrophobic nonwoven films made up of polypropylene fibers. In our project an attempt is made to produce a bio degradable baby diaper by eliminating the polypropylene and replacing all the functional layers of the existing diaper with suitable bio degradable materials.
During the course of the present work the function and properties of the individual layers like top-sheet, distribution layer and core was studied in detail and suitable alternatives were synthesized and chosen from available bio degradable materials. Detailed testing and experimentation like absorption, acquisition time, and rewet tests were performed according to standard procedures and optimum performance was achieved in terms of critical parameters like absorbency and strike through time through continuous experimentation. The performance parameters were optimized using the Taguchi analysis. Product design and aesthetic principles were applied to make the developed product (diaper) as close to the commercially available one.