Basic concepts of cellulose ether–MHEC and MHPC

As the main raw material, natural fiber can be divided into cotton fiber, cedar fiber, beech fiber and etc.

Their degree of polymerization will affect the final viscosity of their products. At present, the main cellulose manufacturers all use cotton fiber(the by-product of nitrocellulose) as the main raw material.

Cellulose ether can be classified into ionic and nonionic types. The ionic type mainly includes carboxymethyl cellulose salt, and the nonionic type mainly includes methylcellulose, methyl hydroxyethyl (propyl) cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose and so on.

the classification of cellulose ether

Now, the cellulose ether used in dry mortar are mainly methyl hydroxyethyl cellulose ether(MHEC) and methyl hydroxypropyl cellulose ether(MHPC), which account for more than 90% of the market share, and the proportion of real methyl cellulose ether is very low. The article refers to methyl cellulose ether, mainly about MHEC and MHPC.