Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) offers excellent thickening, water retention, and adhesive properties, and is widely used in industries such as construction and coatings

31 Jul.,2025

HPMC can be used in cement mortars to enhance their adhesive strength, prevent cracking, and improve construction quality. In the coatings industry, it improves the rheological properties of paints, making them easier to apply and resulting in more uniform and smooth films, thereby enhancing the quality and aesthetics of the coatings. Additionally, HPMC has excellent water retention properties,

 

Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) is an excellent multifunctional material additive. It possesses outstanding thickening properties, significantly enhancing the viscosity of various solutions and mixtures, thereby improving their stability and uniformity. In the construction sector, HPMC can be used in cement mortars to enhance their adhesive strength, prevent cracking, and improve construction quality. In the coatings industry, it improves the rheological properties of paints, making them easier to apply and resulting in more uniform and smooth films, thereby enhancing the quality and aesthetics of the coatings. Additionally, HPMC has excellent water retention properties, effectively reducing rapid water evaporation and providing an appropriate humidity environment for material curing and performance development. Whether in construction, coatings, or numerous other industrial fields, HPMC plays a crucial role with its superior performance, serving as a powerful assistant in enhancing product quality.

Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) offers excellent thickening, water retention, and adhesive properties, and is widely used in industries such as construction and coatings

**Characteristics:**
1. **Appearance:** This product is a white or slightly yellowish powder, odorless, tasteless, and non-toxic.
2. **Water Solubility and Thickening Ability:** This product is cold-water soluble, forming a transparent viscous solution.
3. **Solubility in Organic Solvents:** Due to the presence of a certain amount of hydrophobic methoxy groups, this product can dissolve in some organic solvents and also in mixed water-organic solvents.
4. **PH Stability:** The viscosity of this product's aqueous solution is relatively stable within the PH range of 3.0–10.0. Below 3 or above 10, the viscosity decreases significantly.
5. **Surface Activity:** The aqueous solution of this product has surface activity, providing emulsifying properties, protective colloid, and relative stability.
6. **Low Ash Content:** As this product is non-ionic, it can be effectively refined by washing with hot water during preparation, resulting in very low ash content.
7. **Salt Resistance:** Being non-ionic and non-polymeric electrolyte, it remains stable in aqueous solutions of metal salts or organic electrolytes.
8. **Water Retention:** Due to its hydrophilic nature and high viscosity in aqueous solutions, it maintains high water retention when added to mortars, plasters, and coatings.
9. **Mold Resistance:** It has good mold resistance and maintains stable viscosity during long-term storage.
10. **Lubricity:** Adding this product can reduce the friction coefficient and improve construction lubricity.
11. **Film Formation:** This product can form strong, flexible, and transparent films with good resistance to oil and esters.

**Introduction:**
Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) is a non-ionic cellulose ether derived from natural polymer materials through a series of chemical processes. In building materials, HPMC is an indispensable additive. Adding HPMC can improve the following properties:
1. **Water Retention:** Enhances water retention, preventing premature drying and insufficient hydration in cement mortars and dry-mix plasters, which can lead to poor hardening and cracking.
2. **Workability:** Increases the plasticity of mortars, improving construction spreadability and work efficiency.
3. **Adhesion:** Improves the adhesion to substrates and bonded materials due to increased plasticity.
4. **Anti-Sagging:** Its thickening properties prevent sagging of mortars and bonded materials during construction.

**Main Applications:**
- **Exterior Wall Insulation Systems:** Selecting the appropriate amount of HPMC can maximize the adhesive strength of bonding mortars and provide smooth construction, improving work efficiency.
- **Tile Adhesives:** HPMC's excellent water retention, enhanced adhesion, and high anti-sagging properties improve tile bonding efficiency, significantly enhancing the construction performance of adhesives, allowing for longer open times and stronger adhesion, preventing tiles from drying too quickly and falling off, and increasing bonding and shear strength.
- **Interior and Exterior Wall Putty:** HPMC's water retention properties prevent putty from cracking due to rapid drying after application, enhancing hardened strength and facilitating application. Its viscosity also aids in improving adhesion.
- **Grouts:** HPMC provides suitable viscosity and plasticity, making it easy to apply.
- **Self-Leveling Mortars:** Low-viscosity HPMC offers anti-settling properties, enhancing fluidity and pumpability, controlling water retention, and reducing cracking and shrinkage.
- **Gypsum-Based Plasters:** HPMC retains moisture in the mortar, allowing complete curing of gypsum, and its anti-sagging properties enable the application of thicker layers without causing construction waves.
- **Lightweight Composite Wall Panels:** HPMC enhances the workability of extruded products, providing high adhesive strength and lubricity, improving the wet strength of mortars and the adhesion of panels after extrusion.
- **Ceramic Extrusion Molding:** HPMC provides excellent lubricity and plasticity, ensuring good operability of ceramic product molds. Its very low ash content results in a very dense internal structure after firing, with a smooth and fine surface.
- **Daily Chemical Detergents:** HPMC serves as an effective film-forming agent, adhesive, thickener, stabilizer, and dispersant in daily chemical detergents.

**Reference Dosage:**
- Insulation particle slurry: 0.5%-0.8%
- Thin-layer mortar: 0.2%-0.3%
- Putty powder: 0.3%-0.4%
- Tile adhesive: 0.15%-0.3%