Introduction:
, Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose, otherwise known as CMC-Na, Sodium Cellulose Glycolate, is generally called CMC.
Given approval by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (of those days), was the first to be put on sale in 1950, and we are now in a position to be named as "a pioneer in the Japanese CMC industry".
is the anionic polyelectrolyte which is obtained along with the partial etherification of hydroxyl groups on cellulose by using carboxymethyl groups during the course of the reactions of cellulose with caustic soda and then monochloroacetate respectively.
has a wide range of application to food, drugs and medicines, cosmetics, feed mixtures, textiles, construction materials, papermaking, ceramics, civil engineering, drilling, etc., and hence it has been being used as thickners, dispersion stabilizers, adhesives, protective colloids, and the like.
is mainly applied for food as a food additive based on "the Specification and Standards for food, food additives." has been offering high utility value by virtue of its properties as described below.

Properties of
1. Easily soluble in both cold and hot water, thereby becoming a viscous fluid.
2. The viscosity of the viscous fluid slightly varies with temperature, and the variation per day also is hardly exhibited.
3. Having emulsion-dispersibility and suspensibility.
4. Forming a tough and transparent film with adhesiveness.
5. Stable toward chemical actions compared with natural size, and not perishable.
6. Bland and innocuous, and physiologically harmless.
7. Insoluble in organic solvents, oil, and grease.
8. Compatible with natural gum and other water-soluble size.

The chemical structure formula of is shown in the following figure.