Patent ID: 8007635

Claim:
A method for making an absorbent composite useful for personal hygiene articles which comprises: dry shredding a treated lignocellulosic material to form an absorbent sub layer material comprised of fluffed base-treated wood pulp, said treated lignocellulosic material having a viscosity of 10 cps or less, comprising functional groups selected from the group consisting of aldehyde functional groups, hemiacetal functional groups and combinations thereof, and made by a process comprising treating a lignocellulosic material by adding from 0.01 to 0.1% of a catalyst by weight of the lignocellulosic material wherein said catalyst comprises a transition metal selected from iron, zinc, cobalt, nickel, manganese, tungsten, zirconium, cerium, chromium and combinations thereof in the presence of from 0.5 to 5% oxidizing agent by weight of the lignocellulosic material wherein said oxidizing agent is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorite, hypochlorous acid and any combination thereof at a pH from about 2 to about 6 to form said treated lignocellulosic material without refining thereafter said treating step; providing at least one fluid permeable top sheet layer and at least one substantially fluid impermeable back sheet layer; and interposing the sub layer material between the top sheet layer and back sheet layer.