Superabsorbent polymer and preparation method thereof

1. A method of preparing a superabsorbent polymer, the method comprising:

A) performing crosslinking polymerization of water-soluble ethylene-based unsaturated monomers having acidic groups which are at least partially neutralized, in the presence of an internal crosslinking agent, to form a water-containing gel polymer including a crosslinked polymer;

B) drying, pulverizing, and size-sorting the water-containing gel polymer to form a base polymer powder;

C) performing surface-crosslinking of the base polymer powder by heat treatment in the presence of a surface crosslinking agent to form superabsorbent polymer particles;

D) adding an aggregation inhibitor and water to the superabsorbent polymer particles; and

E) evaporating the water,

wherein an aging process is performed at a temperature of 50° C. to 120° C. and a pressure of 100 mm H 2 O to less than 1500 mm H 2 O for 5 minutes to 2 hours, after adding water and the aggregation inhibitor.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-soluble ethylene-based unsaturated monomer is a compound represented by the following Formula 1:

R 1 —COOM 1   [Formula 1]

wherein R 1 is an alkyl group containing an unsaturated bond and having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, and

M 1 is a hydrogen atom, a monovalent or divalent metal, an ammonium group, or an organic amine salt.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal crosslinking agent includes one or more of N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide, trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, propylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, polypropylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, butanediol di(meth)acrylate, butylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, diethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, hexanediol di(meth)acrylate, triethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, tripropylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, tetraethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, dipentaerythritol pentacrylate, glycerin tri(meth)acrylate, pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, triarylamine, ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether, propylene glycol, glycerin, or ethylene carbonate.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface crosslinking agent includes alkylene carbonate having 3 to 10 carbon atoms.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the surface crosslinking agent further includes one or more of a polyhydric alcohol having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, an amino alcohol having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an oxetane compound having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, an epoxy compound having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, a polyvalent amine compound having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, iron hydroxide, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, aluminum chloride, or iron chloride.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface crosslinking of the base polymer powder by heat treatment is performed at 180° C. to 250° C.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein during adding an aggregation inhibitor and water to the superabsorbent polymer particles 1 to 10 parts by weight of water and 0.01 to 0.10 parts by weight of the aggregation inhibitor are added with respect to 100 parts by weight of the surface-crosslinked superabsorbent polymer particles.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregation inhibitor includes a polycarboxylic acid-based copolymer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the superabsorbent polymer obtained after evaporating water releases total volatile organic compounds of 2 ppm or less at 100° C. for 30 minutes.