Re: is there a way of creating a substance with similar properties to urine?

This link ( http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/771485.html) has lots of information on formulas that have been devised for “artificial urine”. These formulas are relatively simple, but some of the components might be hard for you to find at a store.

Looking at the first recipe, some of the components are much more likely than others to be relevant to the absorbency you want to study. I wouldn’t worry at all about including albumen or creatine. Many of the components, including the NaCl, KCl, urea and sodium phosphate, will contribute to a property called ‘ionic strength’ which could be important for your study. Sodium phosphate acts as a pH buffer; pH could be important for your study. Finally the urea is a powerful ‘chaotrope’ (which means that it disrupts structure in water) which could also be important.

As far as laboratory chemicals go, these are all relatively cheap and safe, so it would be reasonable to ask if your school could obtain them for you from a chemical supply company.