Chemical Properties of Cellulose Ether

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 ground to form a uniform powder with a certain fineness.

In the production of MC, only methyl chloride is used as an etherifying agent; in addition to methyl chloride, propylene oxide is also used to obtain hydroxypropyl substituents in the production of HPMC. Various cellulose ethers have different methyl and hydroxypropyl substitution rates, which affect the organic compatibility and thermal gel temperature of the cellulose ether solution.

Development Trend of Cellulose Ether HPMC

Due to the structural differences in market demand for cellulose ethers, a situation in which companies with different strengths can coexist has been formed. In view of the obvious characteristics of structural differentiation of market demand, domestic cellulose ether manufacturers adopt a differentiated competition strategy based on their own strengths, and at the same time, they are also able to grasp the development trend and direction of the market.

(1) Ensuring product quality stability will still be the core competitiveness of cellulose ether companies

Cellulose ether accounts for a relatively small part of the production costs of most downstream companies in this industry, but it has a greater impact on product quality. Mid-to-high-end customer groups must go through formulation experiments before using a certain brand of cellulose ether. After forming a stable formula, it is usually not easy to replace other brands of products, and at the same time put forward higher requirements for the quality stability of cellulose ether. This phenomenon is more prominent in high-end fields such as large domestic and foreign building materials manufacturers, pharmaceutical excipients, food additives, and PVC. In order to improve the competitiveness of products, manufacturers must ensure that the different batches of cellulose ether supplied can maintain quality stability for a long time in order to form a better market reputation.

(2) Improving the level of product application technology is the development direction of domestic cellulose ether enterprises

With the increasing maturity of cellulose ether production technology, a higher level of application technology is conducive to enterprises to enhance their comprehensive competitiveness and form stable customer relationships. The well-known cellulose ether companies in developed countries mainly adopt the competitive strategy of “facing large-scale high-end customers + developing downstream uses and usage”, develop cellulose ether uses and use formulas, and configure series of products according to different sub-application areas to facilitate customer use , And to cultivate downstream market demand. The competition of cellulose ether enterprises in developed countries has moved from product to application technology competition.