Abstract
Mathematical analysis of isotherms of the equilibrium water absorption of polymers displays their consistency with the equation for the theory of volume-centred filling of micropores, regardless of the hydrophilicity of the polymers. The structure of a microporous adsorbent, absent in the initial state, is formed in consequence of the reorganization of chains of a molecular-chain sponge during absorption. Thus, some chain units combine to isolate water molecules as clusters, and another part is redistributed around the clusters as a fringe that stabilizes the system by increasing the configurational entropy.
