Process for making a soft, strong, absorbent material for use in absorbent articles

A process for making an absorbent material comprising the steps of:

• (A) providing a carrier layer;
• (B) forming a web having at least one layer of a mixture of cellulosic fibers and superabsorbent material on top of said carrier layer wherein at least some of said cellulosic fibers are provided by
• (1) treating a liquid suspension of pulp containing said cellulosic fibers at a temperature of from about 15° C. to about 60° C. with an aqueous alkali metal salt solution having an alkali metal salt concentration of from about 2 weight percent to about 25 weight percent of said solution for a period of time ranging from about 5 minutes to about 60 minutes, and
• (2) blending said cellulosic fibers and said superabsorbent material with controlled air circulation and mechanical agitation to form said mixture of cellulosic fibers and superabsorbent material free of chemical binding agents and heat set bonding agents;
• (C) forming a layer of said cellulosic fibers which is free of said superabsorbent material and which is disposed on top of said at least one layer;
• (D) increasing the moisture content of said web to increase the web density by conveying said web through a region into which steam having a temperature of above about 100° C. is discharged and maintaining the residence time of the web in said region for at least about 0.1 second;
• and
• (E) after step (D), compacting said web to less than about 3 mm at an elevated temperature to further increase the web density, to establish a web moisture content of between about 3% and about 10% as measured after cooling to ambient temperature, and to effect hydrogen bonding within the web, said step of compacting said web including the step of compacting said web between two calendering rolls wherein (1) at least one of the rolls is heated to a surface temperature in the range of between about 70° C. to about 180° C., (2) at least the roll contacting said carrier layer has a knurled surface to embed portions of said carrier layer in said at least one layer of a mixture of cellulosic fibers and superabsorbent material, and (3) the rolls exert a load of at least about 130 newtons per millimeter of transverse web width.