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Methyl Cellulose E461 exhibits as a white powder or fibrous material, and is non-toxic, non-irritating with non-allergic effect.
Methyl Cellulose E461s apparent relative density is 0.35 to 0.55 (with the real density being 1.26 to 1.30).
Methyl Cellulose E461 swells in water into a translucent viscous colloidal solution which is neutral to litmus, insoluble in ethanol, ether and chloroform, but soluble in glacial acetic acid.
CAS Number: 9004-67-5
Molecular Formula: C20H38O11
Molecular Weight: 454.50912
EINECS Number: 232-674-9
Synonyms: adulsin, Methyl cellulose, viscosity 8000 cPs;'TYLOSE'(R) MH 300;'TYLOSE'(R) MH 1000;walsrodermc20000s;MethyI cellulose;METHYL CELLULOSE (CMC);CMC (PURE AND TECHNICAL GRADES)
Methyl Cellulose E461, is a kind of long-chain substituted cellulose, in which 27% to 32% of the hydroxyl group exists in the form of methoxy.
The substitution degree affects the physical properties of methyl cellulose such as solubility.
Methyl Cellulose E461 has an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 220,000.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is tolerant to the effects of acid, alkali, microorganisms, heat, and light and is also not affected by oil and grease, but will burn upon reaching ignition point.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is a product composed of cellulose glucose with all or part of three hydroxyls getting methylated.
General products contain a methoxy fraction of 26% to 33% with degree of substitution being 1.7 to 2.2.
Product with substitution degree being 1.3 to 2.6 is soluble in water, pyridine, and acetic acid.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is widely used for architecture, such as being used as the adhesive of cement, mortar, and for mudding off the seam.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is also used for making film an adhesive in cosmetics, medicine, and food industry.
Methyl Cellulose E461 can be also used as a textile sizing agents, synthetic resin dispersing agent, paint film formers and thickeners.
The production method is that: use pulp to produce the alkali cellulose; alkali cellulose is reacted with methyl chloride or dimethyl sulfate in an autoclave and then further refined with warm water to obtain the final product.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is a semi-synthetic cellulose ether used as a thickener, stabilizer, emulsifier, and film-forming agent in food, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is produced by chemically modifying natural cellulose (from plant fibers) by replacing some hydroxyl groups with methyl groups.
This makes it an important functional polymer in food and material science.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is a derivative of cellulose where –OH groups on the glucose units are partially substituted with –OCH₃ (methoxy) groups, forming a water-soluble polymer that behaves differently from natural cellulose.
Methyl Cellulose E461 substitution changes its solubility and thermal behavior.
This makes it important in polymer modification chemistry.
A key property of methyl cellulose is that it forms viscous solutions in cold water but gels when heated (thermal gelation behavior), which is opposite to many common polymers.
This reversible gelation is widely used in food texture design.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in hydrocolloid science.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is best described as a plant-derived modified polymer used to control viscosity, stabilize emulsions, and improve texture in foods, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials.
Its main role is functional rather than nutritional.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it widely used in formulation technology.
Methyl Cellulose E461 works by hydrating in water and forming a network of entangled polymer chains that trap water molecules, increasing viscosity and stabilizing dispersed systems.
This prevents separation of ingredients in emulsions and suspensions.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in colloid stability.
Its unusual thermal gelation occurs because hydrophobic interactions between methyl groups increase at higher temperatures, causing the polymer chains to associate and form a gel structure.
Methyl Cellulose E461 property is reversible upon cooling.
This makes it important in thermoreversible gel systems.
It is highly effective at stabilizing emulsions by increasing viscosity and reducing droplet movement, which slows down coalescence and phase separation in food and cosmetic systems.
This improves product shelf life and texture consistency.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in emulsion stabilization.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is generally non-ionic, meaning it is compatible with a wide range of salts, acids, proteins, and other hydrocolloids without strong chemical interactions or precipitation.
This makes it highly versatile in formulation design.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in multi-ingredient systems.
It is also resistant to enzymatic degradation compared with natural cellulose, which increases its stability in processed foods and pharmaceutical products.
Methyl Cellulose E461 improves long-term product performance.
This makes it important in formulation durability.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is a plant-based food additive derived from natural cellulose. Widely used as a thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier, it is most famous for its unique ability to gel when heated and liquefy when cooled.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is tasteless, calorie-free, and suitable for vegans.
Methyl Cellulose E461 also shows strong film-forming ability, meaning that when water evaporates it can create a flexible, transparent polymer film on surfaces.
This property is useful for coatings and edible films.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in barrier and coating technologies.
Its performance is strongly influenced by degree of substitution (DS) and molecular weight, which control solubility, viscosity, gel strength, and thermal gelation temperature.
Higher molecular weight generally increases viscosity, while substitution level tunes water solubility.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in polymer design optimization.
Unlike ionic hydrocolloids, methyl cellulose is stable across a wide pH range (acidic to mildly alkaline conditions) because it does not carry charged groups.
This gives it excellent formulation flexibility.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in pH-stable systems.
Melting point: 290–305 °C
Density: 1.01 g/cm³ (at 70 °C)
FEMA: 2696 | Methyl Cellulose
Refractive index: 1.4970
Storage temperature: Room temperature
Solubility: Practically insoluble in hot water, acetone, anhydrous ethanol, and toluene. Dissolves in cold water to form a colloidal solution.
Form: Powder
Color: White, yellow-white, or grayish-white
Odor: Odorless
pH: 5.0–8.0
Biological source: Wood (pulp cellulose)
Odor type: Odorless
Viscosity: 320–480 cP (2% in water, 20 °C)
Water solubility: Soluble in cold water
Merck: 14,6040
Dielectric constant: 3.0 (ambient)
Stability: Stable. Incompatible with strong oxidizing agents, bleach, perchloric acid, nitric acid, perchlorates, alkali nitrates, alkali nitrites, and calcium oxide.
Major application: Pharmaceutical (small molecule)
Methyl Cellulose E461 is a compound derived from cellulose.
It is sold under a variety of trade names and is used as a thickener and emulsifier in various food and cosmetic products, and also as a bulk-forming laxative.
Like cellulose, it is non-digestible, non-toxic, and not an allergen.
In addition to culinary uses, it is used in arts and crafts such as papier-mâché and is often the main ingredient of wallpaper paste.
Methyl Cellulose E461 also provides fat-mimicking texture in low-fat foods by increasing viscosity and creating a creamy mouthfeel without adding lipids.
This is widely used in reduced-calorie product design.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in fat replacement technology.
In frozen systems, methyl cellulose can help improve freeze–thaw stability by controlling ice crystal growth and reducing structural breakdown during temperature cycling.
This improves texture retention after thawing.
This makes it important in frozen food stability.
In solution, its polymer chains form random coils that entangle and trap water, but reorganize upon heating due to hydrophobic interactions between methyl groups.
Methyl Cellulose E461 structural rearrangement explains its unique thermal gelation behavior.
This makes it important in macromolecular physics.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is considered a very low-toxicity, widely approved food-grade additive with a strong safety record in humans and the environment.
It is derived from cellulose, a natural plant polymer.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it highly safe for broad use.
The main hazard is mechanical dust irritation during handling of fine powder, which may affect eyes or respiratory tract if inhaled in large quantities.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is not chemical toxicity but physical irritation.
This makes dust management important.
It is generally non-sensitizing and non-irritating to skin under normal use conditions, and allergic reactions are rare.
Methyl Cellulose E461 contributes to its acceptance in food and pharmaceutical products.
This makes it well tolerated biologically.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is not considered environmentally hazardous and is biodegradable, although its breakdown is slower than simple sugars due to its polymeric structure.
It eventually degrades into natural cellulose-derived products.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it environmentally safe.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is a safe, multifunctional hydrocolloid with minimal health risk, where the only meaningful safety concern is dust exposure during industrial handling rather than intrinsic chemical hazard.
Methyl Cellulose E461 also plays an important role in rheology control, meaning it can shift a formulation between liquid-like and gel-like behavior depending on concentration, temperature, and shear conditions.
This allows formulators to tune flow behavior very precisely in foods, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in rheology engineering.
Under shear (mixing, pumping, spreading), methyl cellulose solutions often show shear-thinning behavior, where viscosity decreases during movement and increases again when at rest.
This improves processability while maintaining stability after application.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in non-Newtonian fluid design.
Its thermal gelation is also reversible and exhibits a hysteresis effect, meaning the gelation and re-liquefaction temperatures are not identical, depending on heating/cooling history and concentration.
This affects processing conditions in industrial systems.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in thermal behavior studies.
Methyl Cellulose E461 can form entangled polymer networks without chemical crosslinking, relying purely on physical interactions such as hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic association.
This allows it to remain reversible and processable.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in physical polymer networks.
It also contributes to air and gas bubble stabilization in foams, especially in whipped or aerated food systems, by increasing viscosity and slowing bubble coalescence.
This improves foam stability and texture retention.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in foam science.
Because it is non-ionic, it is often used in formulations with electrolytes (salts) where many ionic polymers would collapse or precipitate, giving it a major advantage in real food and industrial systems.
This increases formulation robustness.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in electrolyte-tolerant systems.
Uses:
Methyl Cellulose E461 can be used as thickeners; stabilizer; emulsifier; excipients; dispersant; binders; substitutes of film-forming agent hydrosol.
It can also be used in mayonnaise, shortenings and some other foods.
Because of that the materials can’t digested in the body, it can maintain several times amount of water, resulting in satiety; it can be used in crackers, waffles and other food for taking effect.
For application, first 1/5 of the required amount of water for moistening the powder, together with cold water (necessary, to add ice) for mixing well. EEC: approved for using at frozen foam products, potato chips, soft drinks, special dietary foods, baked goods filling, the top material for foaming, sauces, and sauces.
Methyl Cellulose E461 can also be used in mayonnaise, shortenings and some other foods.
Because of that the materials can’t digested in the body, it can maintain several times amount of water, resulting in satiety; it can be used in crackers, waffles and other food for taking effect.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is used as a thickener and an emulsifier in various food and cosmetic products; as a gel in advanced cookery and as a lubricant.
It is also involved in the treatment of constipation. It acts as a buffer additive in capillary electrophoresis to control electoosmotic flow for improved separations.
In paper and textile industries, it is used as a sizing, thereby protecting the fibers from water or oil.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is used to treat constipation and is classified as a bulk forming laxative.
Methyl Cellulose E461 works by increasing the amount of stool present which improves intestinal contractions.
Effects generally occur within three days.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is taken orally with sufficient water.[2] Side effects may include abdominal pain.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is widely used in food products as a thickener and stabilizer in sauces, dressings, soups, and dessert products to improve texture and prevent separation.
Methyl Cellulose E461 helps maintain consistent viscosity and mouthfeel.
This makes it essential in food formulation.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is used in vegetarian and vegan food products as a gelling and binding agent, especially in meat substitutes and plant-based protein products.
It helps create meat-like texture and structure.
This makes it important in plant-based food technology.
In bakery products, it improves dough handling, moisture retention, and structure stability during baking and storage.
Methyl Cellulose E461 helps maintain softness and product quality over time.
This makes it important in bakery science.
In pharmaceutical formulations, it is used as a binder, controlled-release matrix former, and tablet coating agent.
It helps control drug release and improves tablet integrity.
This makes it important in drug delivery systems.
In construction materials such as tile adhesives, cement-based mortars, and gypsum plasters, it improves water retention, workability, and application smoothness.
Methyl Cellulose E461 prevents cracking and improves adhesion performance.
This makes it important in building chemistry.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is also used in cosmetics and personal care products as a thickener and stabilizer in creams, lotions, and gels.
It improves texture and product consistency.
This makes it important in cosmetic formulation systems.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is widely used in plant-based meat alternatives to create fibrous, juicy textures that mimic the binding and structure of animal muscle proteins.
It acts as a key structuring agent in vegan meat products.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it essential in alternative protein technology.
It is used in low-fat and reduced-calorie foods (such as sauces, spreads, and desserts) to replace fat-related texture and improve creaminess without adding oil.
This helps maintain sensory quality while reducing calories.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in fat-reduction formulation.
In instant food products (soups, noodles, ready meals), it improves viscosity, suspension stability, and heat-triggered thickening during preparation.
This ensures consistent texture after cooking.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in convenience food systems.
In pharmaceutical controlled-release tablets, it forms a gel matrix that slows drug diffusion, allowing extended or sustained release of active ingredients.
This improves dosing efficiency and therapeutic control.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in drug delivery engineering.
In construction materials such as tile adhesives, cement renders, and gypsum-based plasters, it improves water retention, adhesion, and workability during application.
Methyl Cellulose E461 prevents premature drying and cracking.
This makes it important in building material formulation.
In cosmetics, it is used in gels, creams, and lotions to improve viscosity, stabilize emulsions, and create smooth, non-greasy textures.
It enhances sensory feel and product stability.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it important in personal care formulation science.
MMethyl Cellulose E461 is widely used in gluten-free baking systems, where it replaces gluten’s structure-building role by providing elasticity, water retention, and gas-holding capacity in doughs.
This improves volume and texture in gluten-free bread and pastries.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes it essential in gluten-free food technology.
It is used in instant sauces and powdered food mixes to control thickening behavior upon heating and hydration, ensuring consistent texture after preparation.
Methyl Cellulose E461 improves consumer usability and product reliability.
This makes it important in instant food systems.
In meat analogues and plant-based seafood products, it acts as a binder that holds proteins, fats, and water together to create fibrous, juicy structures.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is critical for realistic texture development.
This makes it important in alternative protein engineering.
In pharmaceutical suspensions and syrups, it helps maintain uniform dispersion of active ingredients and prevents sedimentation over time.
Methyl Cellulose E461 improves dosing accuracy and shelf stability.
This makes it important in pharmaceutical formulation science.
In topical gels and ophthalmic formulations, it provides viscosity and surface retention, allowing longer contact time on skin or eye surfaces.
Methyl Cellulose E461 improves delivery efficiency of active compounds.
This makes it important in biomedical delivery systems.
In construction materials, it enhances open time in tile adhesives, meaning workers have more time to adjust tiles before the adhesive sets.
Methyl Cellulose E461 improves workability and installation precision.
This makes it important in construction application performance.
Safety Profile:
A poison by intraperitoneal route.
When heated to decomposition it emits acrid smoke and irritating fumes.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is considered a low-hazard, non-toxic, and widely approved food additive with a strong safety profile for human consumption and industrial use.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is derived from natural cellulose and modified for functionality.
This makes it very safe in normal applications.
Methyl Cellulose E461 may cause mild mechanical irritation to the eyes or respiratory tract if inhaled as a fine powder during handling or processing.
This is due to physical dust rather than chemical toxicity.
Methyl Cellulose E461 makes dust control important.
It is generally non-irritating to skin and is not associated with significant allergic or sensitization effects in most users.
Methyl Cellulose E461 contributes to its wide use in food and pharmaceutical products.
This makes it well-tolerated.
It is not considered environmentally hazardous and is biodegradable under appropriate conditions, though its degradation is slower than simple sugars due to polymer structure.
Methyl Cellulose E461 eventually breaks down into natural components.
This makes it environmentally acceptable.
Methylcellulose is widely used in a variety of oral and topical pharmaceutical formulations.
Methyl Cellulose E461 is also extensively used in cosmetics and food products, and is generally regarded as a nontoxic, nonallergenic, and nonirritant material.
Following oral consumption, methylcellulose is not digested or absorbed and is therefore a noncaloric material.
Ingestion of excessive amounts of methylcellulose may temporarily increase flatulence and gastrointestinal distension.
