Patent ID: 7517586

Claim:
An absorbent structure comprising water-swellable material that comprises a plurality of water-swellable polymer particles coated with a coating agent, wherein said coating agent comprises an elastomeric material that is phase-separating and has at least a first phase with a first glass transition temperature Tg 1 and a second phase with a second glass transition temperature Tg 2 wherein said absorbent structure is a part of a disposable absorbent article selected from the group consisting of infant diapers, training pants, adult incontinent articles, sanitary napkins, panty-liners, interlabial articles, and bandages, wherein said coating agent comprises at least one block copolymer selected from the group consisting of polyurethane-co-polyethers, polyurethane-co-polyesters, polyurethane/urea-co-polyethers, polyurethane/urea-co-polyesters, polystyrene block copolymers and blends thereof and is present in the form of a continuous shell around at least a portion of one or more of said water-swellable polymer particles, said shell having an average caliper of 1 μm to 50 μm.