Patent ID: 7863338

Claim:
An absorbent polymer granulate obtained by the process comprising the steps of: i) polymerizing an aqueous monomer solution to obtain a polymer gel, ii) comminuting the polymer gel to obtain a polymer gel granulate, and iii) obtaining a mechanically loosened polymer gel granulate by loosening the polymer gel after the comminution in step ii), in the form of the polymer gel granulate obtained after the comminution; and iv) drying the polymer gel granulate; wherein the polymer gel granulate after step ii) has a spread including a first compressibility index Îº 1 of the gel granulate that lies between about 10% and about 40%; and wherein the spread behavior of the gel granulate after step ii) is characterized by at least one of the following features (Î´1) a second compressibility index Îº 2 of the gel granulate lies between about 3Â·10 âˆ’5 Pa âˆ’1 and about 6Â·10 âˆ’5 Pa âˆ’1 ; or (Î´2) a first decompressibility index Kr of the gel granulate lies between about 3% and about 15%; or (Î´3) a second compressibility index Îº 2 â€² of the gel granulate lies between about 3Â·10 âˆ’5 Pa âˆ’1 and about 7Â·10 âˆ’5 Pa âˆ’1 .