The difference between CMC and sodium CMC

 

The difference between CMC and sodium CMC is that sodium CMC or sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is easily soluble in hot and cold water and is easy to store, while CMC or carboxymethyl cellulose is poorly soluble in water and difficult to maintain.

Normally, we can find carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in the form of sodium CMC, which is the sodium salt form of CMC.

Due to its poor solubility in water, this substance turns into sodium salt. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose has a high solubility in water, which makes it easy to maintain.

 

What is Sodium CMC?

 

Sodium CMC is sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. It is a derivative of CMC and is an important product of cellulose ethers, usually formed from the modification of natural cellulose.

Typically, CMC compound has poor water solubility. So, we can keep it as sodium CMC. This compound is also soluble in cold water and can be spread.

The unusual chemical properties of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose are emulsifying dispersing and solid dispersing properties. It can also be described as a natural polymer derivative.

 

 

The important applications of sodium CMC include industries such as food industry, pharmaceutical industry, dentistry, medicine, etc. This macromolecular chemical can absorb water and swell.

When it swells in water, it can form a thick clear solution. In addition, it is neutral in pH.

Typically, sodium CMC appears as a white to slightly yellowish fibrous powder. It is odorless and tasteless. In addition, it is non-toxic and easily dissolves in hot or cold water due to the presence of sodium salt.

Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is stable against light and heat, but the viscosity of this compound decreases with increasing temperature.

 

What is CMC?

 

CMC stands for carboxymethyl cellulose. It is also called cellulose gum. We can define it as a cellulose derivative with carboxymethyl groups attached to some hydroxyl groups of glucopyranose monomers in the cellulose backbone.

Often, this compound is useful in the form of the sodium salt. We call it sodium CMC. The brand name of this compound in the market is Tylose.

 

 

When preparing the CMC compound, we can synthesize it by alkali-catalyzed cellulose reaction in the presence of chloroacetic acid. Here, polar carboxyl groups indicate cellulose solubility and chemical reactivity. After this first step is completed, the resulting reaction mixture usually contains about 60% CMC and 40% sodium salts such as sodium chloride and sodium glycolate.

We can describe this product mix as industrial CMC which is useful in the production of detergents. After that, we need another purification step to remove the salt compounds and purify the CMC compound.

This pure carboxymethyl cellulose is useful and used in food industry, pharmaceutical industry and toothpaste production. In addition, there is also a semi-pure product that is important in paper applications, including the restoration of archival documents.

There are many uses of CMC, including in the food industry, where it has an E number of E466 or E469 (enzymatically hydrolyzed form), which is useful as a viscosity modifier and as a thickener.

In addition, it is also important in stabilizing the emulsion in products such as ice cream. Also, CMC is useful in the production of toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, fabric sizing, paper products, etc.

 

What is the difference between CMC and sodium CMC?

 

What is the difference between sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose

CMC stands for carboxymethyl cellulose. Sodium CMC is the sodium salt form of the CMC compound. The main difference between sodium CMC and CMC is that sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is easily soluble in hot and cold water. Therefore, it is easy to maintain, while CMC is well soluble in water. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain.

In addition, CMS is used in the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, dentistry, medicine, etc., while sodium CMC is used in the food industry, the production of toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, the production of water-based paints, detergents. It is used in textile and paper production industries.

The following figure shows the difference between sodium CMC and CMC in a tabular and summary form:

 

 

Conclusion

 

CMC and sodium CMC are related compounds. The term CMC stands for carboxymethyl cellulose. The main difference between sodium CMC and CMC is that sodium CMC is easily soluble in hot and cold water and is easy to store, while CMC is poorly soluble in water and is difficult to store.