 The second phase is gelation, where as the pH continues to rise and the concentration of the ions in solution to increase, a critical point is reached and insoluble polyacrylates begin to precipitate.These polyanions have carboxylate groups whereby cations bind them, especially Ca2+ in this early phase, as it is the most readily available ion, crosslinking into calcium polyacrylate chains that begin to form a gel matrix, resulting in the initial hard set, within five minutes.Crosslinking, H bonds and physical entanglement of the chains are responsible for gelation.