Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) can swell up to hundreds of times their own weight in aqueous media. Their swelling behavior is characterized mainly by the amount of water they absorb and the rate of absorption. Both are important in practice, and most applications, such as watertight-ness, require them to be optimized. For example, in the cable industry, it became clear early on that longitudinal migration of water can be a major problem for communication and energy cables, mainly by damaging the electronics at the end of cables and the cables themselves. So in this case, fast water blocking is one of the essential requirements for the water-tightness of cables. In the past, cable designers had few choices for water-blocking materials. But now, with the development of SAP, they can get cost-effective high performance to guarantee long cable life.
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