Hydrogels for personal care products

The hydrophilic polymer networks that make up hydrogels are capable of absorbing large quantity of water, which increases their volume and causes them to exhibit a wide range of diverse material characteristics. They have been used in a variety of biological sectors since their first practical application in the 1960s. After more than 50 years of industrial usage, a variety of hydrogels are now available on the market for various uses and with a wide range of properties. Even though it would be nearly impossible to identify all the commercial products based on hydrogels for biological applications, a thorough study of the materials that have made it to market has been done in this chapter. Moreover, the handling of the menstrual cycle via unhygienic cloth-based products and their subsequent health problems are also discussed here. However, the primary aim of this chapter is to target the application of hydrogels to personal care products, including baby diapers and feminine incontinence products like sanitary pads, and to describe their advantages. Aside from these, this chapter covers a brief history, the structure, and classification of hydrogels.