Project Description
Ice Pack / Cold Pack
As we know, ice packs can absorb the amount of heat, due to the high latent heat of fusion of water.
These packs are commonly used to,
- keep food cool in portable coolers,
- or as a cold compress to alleviate the pain of minor injuries;
- or in insulated shipping containers to keep products cool during transport.
So far, there are two types of cold packs: Ice packs and Gel ice packs.
It seems that gel ice packs are more and more popular.
Gel Ice Pack
Gel ice pack is a plastic sac filled with water, or refrigerant gel or liquid.
Here’re the differences from traditional ice bags:
- Soft feel and nice appearance;
- Effectively curb the breeding of bacteria;
- More effective. (Its specific heat is 3-4 times than ice’s)
What chemical is in gel ice packs?
It’s Sodium polyacrylate.
As a type of superabsorbent polymers, sodium polyacrylate can absorb plenty of water and become a gel form.
One-gram sodium polyacrylate can absorb 300-1000 grams of pure water. In other words, it’s enough to contain 1 gram (or less) sodium polyacrylate for each gel ice pack.
Advantages of Sodium polyacrylate
- high specific heat capacity;
- low cost (for each gel ice pack) ;
- non-toxic & environment friendly;
Is it safe?
Actually, sodium polyacrylate is also the main absorption material in common hygiene products such as paper diapers and sanitary towels.
So it is totally non-toxic, harmless and resoluble.
How to judge the quality
There are some mainly parameters index to help us judge the quality of this chemicals in ice packs:
- Absorption–How much the polymer can absorb.
- Absorbent rate—How fast the polymer absorbing liquid.
- Absorption under pressure and retention capacity after centrifugation–Make sure that gel locks the water well.
- Particle Size Distribution.
As a professional sodium polyacrylate supplier, welcome to contact our support team for more details about this product!
