The document details various absorbent materials used in pharmaceuticals, including absorbent cotton, gauze, lint, and muslin. It highlights their properties, uses in wound care, and manufacturing processes, emphasizing their absorbency, protective qualities, and suitability for medical applications. Key references are provided to support the information presented.

1. Pharmaceutical Technology
Presentation
On
ABSORBENTS
Amity University, Noida
Amity Institute of Pharmacy
BY: UNNATI GARG

2. ABSORBENT COTTON
 This consists of epidermal trichomes from the seeds of cultivated
species of Gossypium.
 The seeds are removed mechanically and the trichomes, which are
covered with a fatty substance that makes them non-absorbent, are
defatted with alkali, bleached, washed and dried.
 The product is tangled mass of fibres that is mechanically loosened to
produce a fleecy mass of white soft filaments.
 It is available as rolls or small balls.
 It absorbs water readily.

3. Uses Of Absorbent Cotton
 The high absorbency of cotton wool makes it an excellent material for:
 Absorbing wound exudates. However, as its fibres are loose they irritate and
adhere to raw tissue; consequently, cotton wool should be separated from
wounds by a woven fabric dressing.
 Cleaning, swabbing and medicating wounds, and applying bactericidal
solutions to the skin before surgery and in obstetrics.
 A thick layer of cotton wool is light in weight but provides good physical
protection to the wound, warmth to the area and, because, while dry, it is useful air
filter, a barrier to infection.

4. ABSORBENT GAUZE
 This is a soft cotton cloth of plain weave, open texture and
flimsy appearance.
 It is usually 90cm wide, folded lengthwise and in various
lengths.
 The gauze can be directly applied to wounds as it is in the form
of spun threads and not loose fibres.
 It absorbs water readily but, unless many thicknesses are used, is
not bulky enough to cope with the exudate form, or give
adequate physical protection to, a large wound. Hence, it is
usually covered with a more absorptive and protective dressing.

5. ABSORBENT LINT
 Originally this was a linen cloth, but nowadays surgical lints are
of cotton only.
 The weave is plain and the warp threads in one side are ‘raised’
by shallow cutting to form a fleecy nap that gives the cloth a
thicker and softer appearance and increases its absorbency.
 The yarn should be reasonably free from slubs and snarls and
other defects that cause lumps on the cloth.
 It is a very convenient material because it is easily torn in both
directions.
 It is used for applying topical medication and, externally, as an
absorbent and protective dressing.

6. ABSORBENT MUSLIN
 This is bleached cotton cloth of plain weave, known in
commerce as butter muslin.
 It is used for applying wet and dry dressings.
 It has a close weave that protects the underlying lesions from
fibres in superimposed protective and absorbent dressings.
 It is available in large flat rolls from which pieces big enough for
dressing extensive burns can be obtained.
 It is unsuitable for preparing plaster slabs for which starched
muslin is used.

7. REFERENCE
 Cooper and Gunn, Dispensing for Pharmaceutical Students, 12th edition, 2008, CBS
Publishers and Distributors Pvt. Ltd., Page no. 271, 273, 274.