Patent ID: 7572840

Claim:
A method for manufacturing super-absorbent polymers, comprising providing a non-aqueous reaction mixture which comprises at least a first monomer and a second monomer and a radical-forming polymerization initiator, and subsequently causing the monomers to polymerize under the influence of an energy source, wherein radical formation occurs and the polymerization is started, wherein the first monomer is a monomer containing an acrylic acid group with the formula H 2 C═CR 1 R 2 , wherein R 1 =H or an alkyl group with 1-10 carbon atoms, and R 2 =COOH, wherein the first monomer is neutralized with an inorganic base before polymerization, wherein the radical-forming polymerization initiator consisting essentially of a photoinitiator and polymerization takes place under the influence of UV light, wherein the second monomer is a compound selected from the group consisting of: a monomer containing an acrylic acid group and having the formula H 2 C═CR 3 R 4 , wherein R 3 =H or an alkyl group with 1-10 carbon atoms and R 4 is an alkyl carboxyl group with 1-10 carbon atoms and not equal to R 2 ; a monomer containing an acrylamide group and having the formula H 2 C═CR 3 CONHR 5 , wherein R 3 is as defined above and R 5 is an alkyl group with 1-10 carbon atoms; and a compound selected from the group consisting of methoxy (polyethylene glycol)-methacrylate, ammonium sulphate ethyl methacrylate, vinyl acetate, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-vinyl-N-methylacetamide, vinyl cyanide, crotonic acid, 3-amino-crotonamide, N,N dimethyl acrylamide, N-isopropyl acrylamide, diacetone acrylamide, 4-hydroxybutyl acrylate, 4-hydroxybutyl methacrylate, hydroxypropyl acrylate, hydroxypropyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl acrylate and hydroxyethyl methacrylate.