The future of diapers? UW scientist creates super-absorbing hydrogel
Posted Jan 9, 2026 04:05:33 AM.
Last Updated Jan 9, 2026 10:07:48 AM.
The future of disposable diapers, menstrual products and more could be coming from a lab at the University of Waterloo.
Chemical engineering professor, Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen, developed an all-natural, biodegradable hydrogel that can absorb 1,100 per cent of its own weight in water.
He told 570 NewsRadio it starts as a white powder that looks like flour, but after it absorbs water, it turns into a transparent gel, looking like glass.
Mekonnen said just one gram of the powder can absorb 110 grams of water.
He said that while the absorbent material used today in disposable diapers and other products can take up to 400 years to break down, his hydrogel can fully biodegrade in just three months.
Mekonnen said it’s made from two kinds of cellulose in Canadian trees, and they already have a Canadian industry partner connected to his research, CTK Bio Canada of Vancouver, that plans to commercialize the hydrogel.
He added the hydrogel shows “we can design high-performance alternatives that work extremely well without leaving hundreds of years of waste behind for future generations.”
Mekonnen said it’s not just diapers and other products winding up in landfills; it’s also the microplastics and other byproducts in the water and air from the production of synthetic plastics. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes that about 250 million disposable diapers are discarded globally every day.
Single-use menstrual pads and tampons thrown away by 1.8 billion women worldwide also end up in landfills. UNEP estimates those products, made mostly of plastic, will take up to 500 years to break down.
Testing shows the hydrogel is completely safe for use, Mekonnen adds. His colleague, Dr. Evelyn Yim, also a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo, grew mouse cells on the material, ensuring it would not harm users.
Mekonnen could not give an estimate how soon it will be ready to go up on store shelves.
