Composites were fabricated by impregnating the jute nonwoven fabric in acrylonitrile-butadiene (NBR) latex. The effect of different pickup ratio (dry, wt/wt) of NBR latex to jute nonwoven fabric, viz., 0.5: 1, 1:1.5, 1.5:1, 2:1, and 25:1 on the water absorption behavior of the composites were evaluated. Water absorption studies were carried out at different temperatures, viz. 30, 50, and 70 degrees C, based on immersion weight gain method. From the sorption result, the diffusion (D) and permeation (P) coefficients of water penetrant have been calculated. Significant increase in the diffusion and permeation coefficients was observed with increase in the temperature of sorption experiments. Drastic reductions in diffusion and permeation coefficients were noticed with increase in the pickup ratio of NBR on to jute nonwoven fabric. Attempts were made to estimate the empirical parameters like n, which suggests the mode of transport, and K is a constant that depends on the structural characteristics of the composite in addition to its interaction with water. The temperature dependence of the transport coefficients has been used to estimate the activation energy parameter for diffusion (E-D) and permeation processes (E-p) from Arrhenius plots. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.