Cellulose ether (Cellulose Ether) is made from cellulose through the etherification reaction of one or several etherification agents and dry grinding. According to the different chemical structures of ether substituents, cellulose ethers can be divided into anionic, cationic and nonionic ethers. Ionic cellulose ethers mainly include carboxymethyl cellulose ether (CMC); non-ionic cellulose ethers mainly include methyl cellulose ether (MC), hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose ether (HPMC) and hydroxyethyl cellulose ether. Chlorine ether (HC) and so on. Non-ionic ethers are divided into water-soluble ethers and oil-soluble ethers, and non-ionic water-soluble ethers are mainly used in mortar products. In the presence of calcium ions, ionic cellulose ether is unstable, so it is rarely used in dry-mixed mortar products that use cement, slaked lime, etc. as cementing materials. Nonionic water-soluble cellulose ethers are widely used in the building materials industry because of their suspension stability and water retention.

Chemical Properties of Cellulose Ether

Each cellulose ether has the basic structure of cellulose —Anhydroglucose structure. In the process of producing cellulose ether, the cellulose fiber is first heated in an alkaline solution, and then treated with an etherifying agent. The fibrous reaction product is purified and pulverized to form a uniform powder with a certain fineness.

In the production process of MC, only methyl chloride is used as an etherification agent; in addition to methyl chloride, propylene oxide is also used to obtain hydroxypropyl substituent groups in the production of HPMC. Various cellulose ethers have different methyl and hydroxypropyl substitution ratios, which affect the organic compatibility and thermal gelation temperature of cellulose ether solutions.