What is alternative of Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose?

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose(HPMC) as a thickener and water retaining agent has a wide range of applications in various production industries, such as food, construction, medicine and daily chemical fields. So in the above areas are there any products can replace HPMC?What is alternative of hpmc?

In fact, and hpmc functions and applications similar to these: starch ether, bentonite, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, etc., these products in their respective fields.
These products have similar functions with HPMC in their respective fields, which one to choose depends on your needs.

Construction Industry:

In the construction field, the following materials can partially replace the functions of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC):

1. Starch ether

- It can improve the construction performance of mortar, such as anti-flow hanging and thickening effect. Its price is usually lower than HPMC, and it can replace HPMC in some ordinary masonry mortar and plastered mortar that require not very high water retention rate. However, the water retention performance of starch ether is slightly worse than that of HPMC in general.

2. Bentonite clay

- Good water absorption and expansibility. In some building materials that do not require high bond strength, such as some putty products, bentonite can play a thickening role. However, its stability and fine control are not as good as HPMC, which may affect the long-term performance of the material.

Food and Pharmaceutical Industry:

1. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na)

- Like HPMC, it can be used for thickening, water retention, etc. Used as a thickener in the food industry, it helps retain moisture in building materials. However, its chemical structure and properties are different from HPMC, and its performance is different in terms of transparency.

2. Methyl Cellulose (MC)

- Similar to HPMC chemical structure, both have the structure of cellulose ether. It is used in construction, medicine, food and other industries. For example, it can improve its working performance in building materials, but it does not have some characteristics of HPMC's hydroxypropyl substituted baseband.

3. Sodium alginate

- Extracted from seaweed, it can be used as thickening and gelling agent in food, printing and dyeing fields. For example, it is used in the production of jelly and other foods, but its gel characteristics are greatly affected by calcium ions and other factors, and HPMC has a big difference in function.

Daily chemical Industry:

In the field of daily chemicals, the following products can be used as substitutes for HPMC (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose) :

1.Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na)

- It increases the viscosity of the product, plays a thickening role and helps to stabilize the formulation system in detergents. For example, in laundry detergent, the active ingredient is prevented from settling too quickly, and the price is relatively affordable.

2.Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC)

HEC products also have excellent thickening, emulsification stability, film formation and dispersion, and HEC products have good stability and compatibility. However, as a raw material for thickeners, the cost performance of HEC products does not seem to be high, because the price of HEC products is generally higher.

The above are alternatives to HPMC in different fields. In fact, in addition to the above products, HEMC can also be used as a substitute for HPMC with almost the same performance as HPMC. But compared with HPMC and HEMC of the same quality, HPMC seems to be more cost-effective.

Among the above products, As a globally influential chemical manufacturer, Mikem Chemical focuses on the production and sales of cellulose ethers. We can provide CMC,HEC and HEMC , if you are interested, please come to us for consultation.