Students: Sara NEGIZADE, Mohammad Noureddin AWAD, Abdurrahman Talha ŞENEL
Advisor Information: Prof. Dr. Burçak KARAGÜZEL KAYAOĞLU
SUMMARY
While the whole world is facing the waste problem, innovative solutions are sought especially in the textile sector. Baby diapers occupy an important place in the waste problem. It is known that non-biodegradable materials are used in the production of diapers. While recycling these diapers is an option, attempting to separate and recycle diapers containing feces is not an efficient and sustainable solution.
In addition, some baby diapers offered as biodegradable are known for their low absorbency. In addition, washable diapers cause excessive water consumption on the one hand, while making the life of parents difficult with their low absorbency.
For these reasons, the production of an environmentally friendly design with high absorbency, which can be an alternative to the baby diapers in the market, is a subject that draws attention.
Although completely biodegradable diapers seem like the best option in theory, they are not preferred by parents in terms of use.
This graduation project will work on two important layers of diapers. The first is the acquisition distribution layer (ADL), which provides the most important function of a diaper. The second is the absorbent core layer where all the liquid is absorbed and collected. In particular, the development of these two layers with biodegradable materials will greatly reduce the harm of the diaper to the environment.
In addition, in this study, it is aimed to reduce the negative impact of the diaper on the nature by reducing the amount of SAP and using absorbents of natural origin instead.
In this research, 20 different designs were created to achieve the targeted aim. All of these designs were basically tested for absorbency time and absorbent capacity, and according to these test results, the 4th design was an acquisition distribution layer made of 100% PLA and an absorbent core layer consisting of 30% sodium polyacrylate 20% agar powder 50% wood pulp performed best. A result was obtained by comparing these test results with market diapers.
Keywords: environmentally-friendly, baby diaper, absorbency, polylactic acid, agar agar