Patent ID: 8247640

Claim:
A process for the production of superabsorbent polymer powder with a reduced caking tendency in a moist environment and/or at high temperatures, comprising the steps of: providing a component I which is a water- or aqueous fluid-absorbing, dried, surface-cross-linked polymer powder based on polymerized monomers containing at least partially neutralized acid groups wherein the polymerized monomers is formed into a gel which was dried for about 90 minutes at about 150° C. and the dried polymer was ground and screened to a polymer powder and coating the polymer powder with a surface cross-linking agent to form the water- or aqueous fluid-absorbing, dried, polymer powder coated with a surface cross-linking agent of component I; and surface coating component I with a coating agent selected from the group consisting of nitrogen-containing, non-ionic surfactants as component II and optionally a Lewis acid as component III; wherein said surfactant has the general formula I: in which R 1 is an aliphatic C 1 to C 30 hydrocarbon z-substituted aliphatic residue, R 2 is selected from a hydrogen, an C 2 to C 24 aliphatic hydrocarbon residue, and a hydroxyalkylene residue R 3 , which may be identical or different, has the same meaning as R 2 , provided that with amide compounds, at least one of residues R 2 or R 3 represents a hydroxyalkylene residue or an alkoxylated hydroxyalkylene residue or a corresponding esterified or alkoxylated or esterified and alkoxylated hydroxyalkylene residue with the definition given for R 2 above; n is 1; and z is a whole number from 1 to 4 heat treating the surface coated component I at a temperature of from 100° C. to 250° C. to cause component I to react with the surface cross-linking agent, the coating agent component II and optionally component III; wherein the superabsorbent polymer powder passes the Anti-caking test as set forth herein.