Talking About the Reason Why Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose Can Be Dissolved

Carboxymethyl cellulose itself is an ionic cellulose ether, which has two types: acid type and salt type. Among them, acid type carboxymethyl cellulose is insoluble in water, and carboxymethyl cellulose produced in industry Cellulose is generally in the salt type (what we often call sodium carboxymethyl cellulose), and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose has good water solubility.

In the later practical application, if carboxymethyl cellulose is to be dissolved, it is necessary to master the method, so as to produce a good product that meets the regulations, but why can carboxymethyl cellulose sodium be dissolved? Let's talk about it briefly.

Because carboxymethyl cellulose itself contains a large amount of -OH, this substance can not only form hydrogen bonds between molecular chains, but also form strong hydrogen bonds within molecular chains, so it is said to be insoluble in organic solvents, but carboxymethyl cellulose The base cellulose will swell in the lye, because some cellulose molecules with a lower degree of polymerization will be dissolved. After the carboxymethyl cellulose is alkalized, the -OH will recover its activity, but with some substances The reaction will also cause some hydrogen bonds to be destroyed, and the solubility will also increase accordingly. Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium is a kind of sodium salt, and the substituent directly destroys part of the hydrogen bonds and increases the molecular weight. The electrostatic interaction between them, so sodium carboxymethyl cellulose can be dissolved in water, that is, it can be dissolved.

After reading about why carboxymethyl cellulose can be dissolved, I hope it can help answer your doubts.