Patent ID: 7625957

Claim:
A water-absorbing, antimicrobial polymer particle comprising: from about 1 to about 500 ppm, based on the polymer particle, of a silver ion based on a silver salt Ag m X n , wherein the silver salt has a solubility product of at least about 1×10 −8 (mol/l) m+n ; at least about 10 wt. %, based on the polymer particle, of a water-absorbing polymer based on: (α1) from about 50 to about 99.99 wt. % of acrylic acid which is neutralized to at least 25 mol. %, (α2) from 0 to about 40 wt. % polymerized, monoethylenically unsaturated monomers polymerizable with α1, (α3) from about 0.01 to about 5 wt. % of one or more crosslinkers, (α4) from 0 to about 30 wt. % of a water soluble polymer as well as (α5) from 0 to about 20 wt. % of one or more auxiliaries, wherein the sum of the weight quantities (α1) to (α5) amounts to 100 wt. %; wherein the concentration of the silver ion based on a silver salt in at most about 90 vol. % of the water-absorbing, antimicrobial polymer particle is less than about 0.01 ppm and wherein the water-absorbing, antimicrobial polymer particle is post-crosslinked with a post-crosslinker in a quantity within a range of from about 0.01 to about 30 wt. %, based on the weight of the polymer particle.