E466 Emulsifier

modifier or thickener, and to stabilize emulsions in various products including ice cream. It is also a constituent of many non-food products, such as toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, water-based paints, detergents, textile sizing, reusable heat packs, and various paper products. It is used primarily because it has a high viscosity, is nontoxic, and is generally considered to be hypoallergenic as the major source fiber is either softwood pulp or cotton linter. E466 is used extensively in gluten-free and reduced-fat food products. In laundry detergents, it is used as a soil suspension polymer designed to deposit onto cotton and other cellulosic fabrics, creating a negatively charged barrier to soils in the wash solution. In ophthalmology, E466 is used as a lubricant in artificial tears to treat dry eyes. Extensive treatment may be required to treat severe dry eye syndrome or Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).

E466 is also used as a thickening agent, for example, in the oil-drilling industry as an ingredient of drilling mud, where it acts as a viscosity modifier and water retention agent. E466 for example, is used as a negative control agent for alopecia in rabbits.

Knitted fabric made of cellulose (e.g. cotton or viscose rayon) may be converted into E466 and used in various medical applications.

1. Device for epistaxis (nose bleeding). A poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) balloon is covered byE466 knitted fabric reinforced by nylon. The device is soaked in water to form a gel, this is inserted into the nose and the balloon inflated. The combination of the inflated balloon and the therapeutic effect of the E466 stops the bleeding.
2. The fabric used as a dressing following ear nose and throat surgical procedures.
3. Water is added to form a gel, and this gel is inserted into the sinus cavity following surgery.

Insoluble micro granular E466 is used as a cation-exchange resin in ion-exchange chromatography for the purification of proteins. Presumably, the level of derivatization is much lower, so the solubility properties of microgranular cellulose are retained while adding sufficient negatively charged carboxylate groups to bind to positively charged proteins.

E466 is also used in ice packs to form a eutectic mixture resulting in a lower freezing point, and therefore more cooling capacity than ice.

Aqueous solutions of E466 have also been used to disperse carbon nanotubes. The long E466 molecules are thought to wrap around the nanotubes, allowing them to be dispersed in water. In conservation restoration, it is used as an adhesive or fixative (commercial name Walocel, Klucel).

E466 is used to achieve tartrate or cold stability in wine. This innovation may save megawatts of electricity used to chill wine in warm climates. It is more stable than metatartaric acid and is very effective in inhibiting tartrate precipitation. It is reported that KHT crystals, in presence of E466, grow slower and change their morphology. Their shape becomes flatter because they lose 2 of the 7 faces, changing their dimensions.  molecules, negatively charged at wine pH, interact with the electropositive surface of the crystals, where potassium ions are accumulated. The slower growth of the crystals and the modification of their shape are caused by the competition between E466 molecules and bitartrate ions for binding to the KHT crystals (Cracherau et al. 2001).

In veterinary medicine, E466 is used in abdominal surgeries in large animals, particularly horses, to prevent the formation of bowel adhesions.

E466 is sometimes used as an electrode binder in advanced battery applications (i.e. lithium ion batteries), especially with graphite anodes. E466 water solubility allows for less toxic and costly processing than with non-water-soluble binders, like the traditional polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which requires toxic n-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) for processing. E466 is often used in conjunction with styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) for electrodes requiring extra flexibility, e.g. for use with silicon-containing anodes.