5 methods teach you to identify the real and fake of Hydroxyethyl Cellulose (HEC)

Hydroxyethy Cellulose(HEC)?is a non-ionic cellulose ether . It is easily dispersed and dissolved in?water to produce solution of high viscosity. HEC?is used as a viscosity and?rheology modifier,?protective colloid,?water retention agent,?stabilizer and suspending?agent,?particularly in those applications where a non-ionic material is desired.?The product has higher?and more uniform degree of substitution,?improved the enzyme resistance.

However, the good and the bad are intermingled in the market, how to identify the quality of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) has become an important problem.

From what aspects to identify the real and fake of HEC?

Hydroxyethyl cellulose is mainly used in paint industry, of course, it is also used in the oilfield industry, cosmetics, medicine and other fields, but the most widely application is for paints, so the fraud is mostly in the field of paint.

1. Identify from appearance

Take samples from different bags after receiving the Hydroxyethyl cellulose, and then spread the samples in a glassware. If the samples are found to be uneven in color and particle size, then the HEC may be doped with other types of additives. If the hydroxyethyl cellulose is found to have a flocculent needle-like state, the HEC may be doped with other methyl cellulose ether.

2. Drying

Take a sample of 5.0g of hydroxyethyl cellulose , place it in a volumetric flask and dry it in an oven at 105 ℃ for two hours. Then take it out of the oven and cool it in a desiccator. If the cellulose ether is found to be agglomerated, It is more likely that this is HEC. Of course, it cannot be completely concluded from this. If the dried sample is found to be loose, then it can be basically concluded that the sample is not hydroxyethyl cellulose.

3. Test the gelation temperature

The easiest way is to find a beaker, prepare the HEC solution and heat it to 100 ℃ in a water bath. If the solution is still transparent and clear, it can basically be concluded that the sample is pure HEC. If the solution is heated to 100 ℃ and the solution turns into a milky white solution and a flocculent precipitate appears during the temperature increase, this sample is definitely not pure HEC because pure HEC does not have a gelation temperature.

4. Test group content

The most reliable way is to test its group content, which is generally detected by gas chromatography. If other groups other than hydroxyethoxy are detected in the sample, it means that the sample is definitely not pure HEC.

5. Price

Of course the HEC price says it all, if the market price is $5/kg, but you can buy it with $3/kg, then please don't expect it's real HEC.

And the most important thing is you need to know there are only 6 real HEC manufacturers in China, you need know who they are.