HEC is the abbreviation of hydroxyethyl cellulose. It is a white or light yellow, odorless, non-toxic fibrous or powdered solid, prepared by etherification of alkaline cellulose and ethylene oxide (or chloroethanol), and is non-ionic Soluble cellulose ethers. As a non-ionic surfactant, in addition to thickening, suspending, bonding, floating, film-forming, dispersing, water-retaining and providing protective colloid functions, it also has the following properties:
1. HEC is soluble in hot water or cold water, high temperature or boiling without precipitation, so that it has a wide range of solubility and viscosity characteristics, and non-thermal gel;
2. It is non-ionic and can be combined with a wide range of other water-soluble polymers, surfactants, The coexistence of salt is an excellent colloidal thickener containing high-concentration electrolyte solutions;
3. The water retention capacity is twice as high as that of methyl cellulose, and it has better flow regulation.
4. The dispersion ability of HEC is consistent with the recognized Compared with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, methyl cellulose has the worst dispersing ability, but has the strongest protective colloid ability.
Therefore, hydroxyethyl cellulose is widely used in petroleum exploration, coatings, construction, medicine ,food, textiles, papermaking, and polymer polymerization.
