The Difference between HPMC, CMC, and MC

The Difference between HPMC, CMC, and MC

Many customers can’t distinguish HPMC, CMC and MC though all of them are very popular cellulose derivatives with many different characteristics. We would like to introduce the main differences between these three products here.

1. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) is a type of cellulose that has been modified with hydroxyl groups and methyl groups. It is commonly used as a food additive and as a thickening agent in many products, including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials.

HPMC for detergent

2. The full name of CMC is Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose which is one kind of good thickener and emulsifier. The main specification items are purity, viscosity and D.S(Degree of Substitution).

It is widely used in food products like jam, ketchup, milk, juice, yogurt and ice cream to improve mouthfeel and prolong shelf life.

Sodium CMC can be used in liquid detergent and powder detergent, When it is used in liquid detergent, it can mix with Xanthan Gum and keep the whole liquid system stable for long time and avoid liquid splitting up.

It can also be used in paper making industry as wet end additive to increase paper strength and sizing agent to coated paper.

3. The full name of MC is Methyl Cellulose. It is a kind of thickener, dispersing and adhesive used for industrial, food and pharmaceuticals. It can be widely used in building construction and materials(like: cement), textile sizing and dyeing, paper making. MC used in cement slurry can improve ceramic surface water retention and prevent wall crack. MC can also be used as emulsification, film-forming and suspension in pharmaceutical and food products, like tablets, capsules, oral liquids and injection drugs, etc.

Please contact us for more details about CMC, MC and HPMC.