CELLULOSIC FIBER FOR ODOR AND PH CONTROL

Abstract

A new approach to odor and pH control in medical and hygiene care applications relies on a treatment of absorbent fluff with selected enzyme inhibitors. Cellulose fiber was found to be a convenient carrier for some chemicals which modify the structure of an enzyme and/or block its active site. In an absorbent system exposed for example to body liquids containing urea, selected substances, when released from the fibrous material, can effectively slow down enzymatic hydrolysis of NH2CONH2 and suppress the emission of ammonia. An additional benefit of this technology is in this case a control of the pH of the skin environment and keeping it closer to neutral or slightly acid region. A slowdown of the ammonia emission can be enhanced by blending sodium polyacrylate-based superabsorbent polymer (SAP) particles with the modified cellulose fibers. Suitable inhibitors of urease can also be applied directly to absorbent nonwoven fabrics comprising fluff.