5.9 Cellulose Ether Adhesives

These include ethyl cellulose, hydroxy ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose, and benzyl cellulose. Ethyl and benzyl cellulose can be used as hot-melt adhesives. Methyl cellulose is a tough material, completely non-toxic, tasteless, and odorless, which makes it a suitable adhesive for food packages. It is capable of forming high-viscosity solutions at very low concentrations, so it is useful as a thickening agent in water-soluble adhesives. Hydroxy ethyl cellulose and sodium carboxy methyl cellulose can also be used as thickeners. The cellulose ethers have fair to good resistance to dry heat. Water resistance varies from excellent for benzyl cellulose to poor for methyl cellulose. ^[5 ^,6 ^,20 ^]