How much do you know about Carboxymethyl cellulose/CMC?

Natural cellulose is the most widely distributed and abundant polysaccharide in nature. At present, the modification technology of cellulose mainly focuses on etherification and esterification. Carboxymethylation is a kind of etherification technology. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is obtained by carboxymethylation of cellulose, and its aqueous solution has the functions of thickening, film formation, bonding, moisture retention, colloidal protection, emulsification and suspension, etc. It is widely used in petroleum, food, textile and paper industry, and is one of the most important cellulose ethers.

Application of Carboxymethyl cellulose/CMC:

1. Petroleum Industry

The slurry containing CMC can form a thin and firm filter cake with low permeability and reduce the water loss. When CMC is added to the mud, the rig can obtain a low initial shear force, so that the mud is easy to release the gas trapped in it, and the debris is quickly discarded in the mud pit.

2. Food Industry

Used in the food industry, the food industry uses high displacement CMC as a thickening agent for ice cream, canned food, instant cooking noodles, foam stabilizer for beer, etc., in the processing of jam, sugar juice, sherbet, dessert, ice cream drinks, etc., as a thickening agent, binder or shape agent.

3. Textile Industry

The textile industry uses CMC as a sizing agent for light yarn sizing of cotton, silk, chemical fibers, blended fabrics.

4. Paper Industry

CMC can be used as paper smoothing agent and sizing agent in the paper industry. The addition of 0.1% to 0.3% CMC in the pulp can enhance the tensile strength of the paper by 40% to 50%, increase the compressive rupture degree by 50%, and increase the kneading property by 4 to 5 times.