Thursday, November 21
9:00 am - 11:00 am
A Revolution in Evolution: Superabsorbents’ Continual Makeover and Breakthrough into the Biodegradable and Biofriendly Space
Upon their introduction, the first superabsorbent polymers revolutionized the hygiene industry by enabling AHP manufacturers to improve dryness and significantly reduce raw material content, giving us today’s high-performing and thinner AHP designs. Additional facets to enhance performance and specialized applicability in the market have brought us to the landscape of possibilities of today, yielding many more properties beyond mere absorptive capacity. However, the door of possibilities remains open where a mindset for continual improvement and innovation power meets a world of changing needs. A greater sense of environmental awareness and responsibility has precipitated a more focused search for affordable, biofriendly absorbent solutions. Now that the market demand has arrived, we will discuss our full-scale commercial biodegradable SAP offering to the market, projected for the middle of 2025, along with our growth and continual improvement strategy. Please join us as we explore the possibilities as superabsorbent polymer continues to evolve.
» Jim Wooten
Director of Technical Account Management, Stockhausen Superabsorber LLC
BIOGRAPHY
Jim Wooten began his career at Stockhausen Superabsorber, (formerly Evonik) in the Applications lab, more than 20 years ago. Having lived in Chile and learning Spanish as a child, he supported customers in the Latin America region on and offsite with process troubleshooting, product development, and implementing testing and laboratory setups for absorbent hygiene articles. He later transitioned over to Research & Development of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), assumed the role of Technical Service Representative for the non-hygiene portion of the SAP business (Creasorb), led a team in Product Development of SAPs for the hygiene industry, and then came full circle in leading the Applications team in Greensboro, NC. Jim holds a BS in Chemistry from Elon University and is currently the Director of Technical Account Management for the global business at Stockhausen Superabsorber.