Alginic acid
Description
A hydrophilic polysaccharide obtained from Seaweed. Alginic acid is a stable, light yellowish fibrous solid or powder that is capable of absorbing over 200 times its weight in water. It is used as a thickener and emulsifier in food, ice cream, toothpaste, and cosmetics. Alginic acid forms water-insoluble polymeric alginates with most divalent cations (Ca++, Ba++, etc.), which are used for textile sizing, paper coatings, and to produce imitation Horn, Ivory, and Celluloid.
Synonyms and Related Terms
polymannuronic acid; Sazio; Norgine
Other Properties
Swells but does not dissolve in water. Insoluble in organic solvents
| CAS | 9005-32-7 |
|---|
Hazards and Safety
Fisher Scientific: MSDS
Authority
- Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alginic_acid (Accessed Mar. 15, 2006)
- Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
- The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry #241