There is a basic structure to all adult disposable diapers. Not unlike those of a baby diaper but larger some adult diaper have more features than others and some have far more absorbency (in the world of diaper the adage you get what you pay for is true).  I will try and explain what I mean as I go through and describe the components that make up the adult disposable diaper. There are eight major components in an adult diaper and with some of the more expensive diapers a few more (which will be pointed out as we go along).

1. First and foremost importance is the diaper core (this is where all the action takes place). I won’t at this point get into the more advanced points of core construction yet. But to say the cores of all adult diaper have high percentage of cellulose fiber (wood pulp). This wood pulp comes usually from pine trees and the fibers are usually a ¼ inch or smaller. It gives integrity and absorbance capacity to the diaper.
2. Second is a plastic film, this film is usually made of polyethylene although some films for diapers can also be made of polypropylene or even a blend of both. This film is used as a back sheet that prevents the urine from leaking out of the back of the diaper. In other up coming blogs, we will explore the plastic back seat cont and its function. In greater detail including what is commonly referred to these days as cloth like back sheets.
3. The third component or material is also important because it’s the one your bottom comes directly in contact with when you put the adult diaper on and does also directly affect your skin. This material is referred to as Hydrophilic Non-Woven. It allows the urine to pass through to the diaper core below where the urine is absorbed by the core (fluff pulp) while the surface of the non-woven stays relatively dry because of it’s hydrophilic nature and that non-wovens are made from plastic, most non-woven for disposable diaper are made by a process called Spun Bonding.
4. The fourth important material used in diaper core construction is called Sodium Polyacrylate also known as super absorbent polymers or SAP for short. This material which is similar in look to table salt is what blended into the fluff core to create that gel like material and helps the fluff pulp to hold a greater capacity of urine than it could without it. As a rule of thumb one gram of wood pulp will hold (in free swell state) 10 to 13 times its own weight. But 1 gram of SAP will hold 35 to 55 times its weight in urine (we will get deeper into this subject in other articles on absorbency).
5. The fifth component is tissue. This tissue which is engineered to have a high wet strength is used as a carrier. This carrier helps move the core through the compression and continuous drum forming process.
6. The sixth component is elastic. This elastic is usually made of synthetic rubber or Lycra and is used to help improve the fit. These elastics are also used to form leg cuffs and help enforce standing leg gathers. All used to add to the comfort of the wearer.
7. The seventh component is your frontal tape tabs. Those tape tabs help secure the sides of the diaper to the front of the diaper and use an adhesive material to seal the tabs to the front of the plastic shell (there are many types of tape systems including mechanical type known as Velcro style which uses a hook and loop material instead of a glue type). We will discussing these other types of closure systems later, but your more expensive diapers use a reinforced frontal panel with a very aggressive adhesive tapes which can be taped and re-taped multiple times without tearing. These are most useful on diapers which are designed to hold multiple wettings.
8. The eighth component are standing inner leg cuffs probably the best extra feature to come around and is made of a hydrophobic non-woven which is a non-woven which resists urine from penetrating its surface these inner cuffs are usually made from polypropylene without any added surfactants. These standing inner leg cuffs greatly help in reducing the leaks usually associated with wearing diapers.

There are other components associated with some diapers like wetness indicators, acquisition or distribution layers, stretch tapes, breathable side panels, lotions, and decorated films many of these we will try and cover later.
In other discussions we will examine the pros and cons of the materials and how the choice of these different components will impact on your experience in wearing diapers.