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

Risks

Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

Swells but does not dissolve in water. Insoluble in organic solvents

Resources and Citations

• 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: 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