What is ethyl cellulose used for?

Ethylcellulose is used in pharmaceutical technology as a coating agent, flavoring fixative, binder, filler, film-former, drug carrier, or stabilizer.

Is ethyl cellulose natural?

Ethyl Cellulose is a natural occurring polymer too. It is found in wood and can be extracted from wood pulp.

What is ethyl cellulose Ethoce?

ETHOCEL™ Ethyl Cellulose (EC) Polymers are cellulose ethers that are derived from natural wood or other cellulosic materials. To obtain ETHOCEL™, wood pulp is treated with sodium hydroxide to form alkali cellulose, which is then treated with ethyl chloride to form ethyl cellulose.

Is ethyl cellulose biodegradable polymer?

Ethyl cellulose is a non-biodegradable and biocompatible polymer and is one of the extensively studied encapsulating materials for the controlled release of pharmaceuticals (18).

Is ethyl cellulose safe?

The use of ethyl cellulose as a feed additive is considered safe for the environment. The additive is considered to be efficacious in feedingstuffs for all animal species.

Is ethyl cellulose safe for dogs?

The FEEDAP Panel concluded that ethyl cellulose is considered safe for all animal species. The use of ethyl cellulose in animal nutrition is of no concern for consumer safety.

How is ethyl cellulose made?

2.4 Ethyl Cellulose EC is prepared by the reaction of ethyl chloride with alkali cellulose. During this reaction, the substitution of ethoxyl groups is controlled to a range of 44.5% and higher, which is slightly lower than (2.0 and higher) the theoretical maximum of 3.0.

Why is ethocel used in modified release?

4.3. ETHOCEL becomes solubilized in nonpolar solvent and can effectively be used in the development of sustained and extended release formulations. This polymer is present in the market with different viscosity depending on the chain length (Khan et al., 2015).

Is ethyl cellulose a synthetic polymer?

Ethylcellulose is a linear polysaccharide derived from the naturally occurring polymer, cellulose and therefore possesses its polymeric backbone which is based on the repeating structure of ß-anhydroglucose ring having three reactive hydroxyl functional groups (Davidovich-Pinhas et al., 2014; Rekhi and Jambhekar, 1995) …

What is the nature of ethyl cellulose?

EC is a hydrophobic cellulose derivative that is very strong, but also very brittle [7]. Its hydrophobic properties can be used to prolong drug release when used in combination with other polymers.

How do you dissolve ethyl cellulose?

Since ethyl cellulose (EC) is insoluble in water and fluids, it is mixed with water-soluble additives (e.g., HPMC) to solubilize it. The polymer is widely organic and soluble in distinct solvents, tasteless, colorless, and nontoxic.

Is HEC biodegradable?

Hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) is a biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, hydrophilic, non- ionic water soluble derivative of cellulose.

Is ethyl cellulose soluble in water?

What is HEC thickener?

Hydroxyethylcellulose is a non-ionic, water soluble polymer used as a thickening agent for aqueous cosmetic and personal care formulations. It will produce crystal clear gel products and thicken the aqueous phase of cosmetic emulsions.

Is hydroxyethyl cellulose biodegradable?

Abstract. Hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) is a biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, hydrophilic, non- ionic water soluble derivative of cellulose.

Is cellulose harmful to skin?

The three published studies of cellulose nanocrystal toxicity upon skin exposure showed cellulose nanocrystals not to cause any skin sensitization skin tissue damage.

What is pellet coating?

Pellet (or bead) technology allows a variety of different drug delivery profiles to be achieved by coating a ‘core’ of drug and excipient with various polymers. The drug cores are generally spheroidal in shape and have a diameter in the range of 300 to 1,700 µm.

Is ethyl cellulose hydrophobic?

Ethyl cellulose is also a nontoxic, inert hydrophobic polymer widely used in sustained release formulations and to control the dissolution rate of drugs (Quadir et al., 2005.

How are pharmaceutical pellets made?

Pelletization by extrusion and spheronization: Pharmaceutical pellets are typically manufactured via extrusion spheronization, a three-step process introduced in the late 1960s, that results in spherical granulates roughly 1 mm in diameter.

What is fluidized bed coating?

Fluidized bed coating or granulation is a process by which granules or coated particles are produced in a single piece of equipment by spraying a binder as solution, suspension, or melt onto a fluidized powder bed. This process is sometimes classified as the one-pot system.

Where does ethyl cellulose come from?

How is EthylCellulose Made? EC is a naturally occurring polymer produced from wood pulp or cotton by treatment with alkali and then ethylation of the alkali cellulose with ethyl chloride.

Is ethyl cellulose an emulsifier?

Food grade ethyl cellulose is one of few non-toxic films and thickeners which are not water soluble. This property allows it to be used to safeguard ingredients from water. Ethyl cellulose is also used as a food additive as an emulsifier (E462).

Is ethyl cellulose soluble in ethanol?

Ethylcellulose containing 46- 48% or more of ethoxyl groups is freely soluble in ethanol, in methanol, in toluene, in chloroform, and in ethyl acetate.

Can ethylcellulose-coated pellets be used for extended drug release?

Although ethylcellulose-coated pellets had an uneven surface, extended drug release could be obtained with coating level of 15%. Because of its high glass transition temperature, ethylcellulose-coated pellets showed unchanged drug release profiles upon storage at room temperature for 3 years.

How can ethylcellulose be coated?

Alternatively, ethylcellulose can be coated from aqueous dispersions, the viscosity of which is independent of the molecular weight and concentration of the polymer. Two colloidal ethylcellulose dispersions are commercially available, namely Aquacoat ® ECD and Surelease ® ( Fukumori, 1994, Rekhi et al., 1995, Bodmeier et al., 1997 ).

What factors affect the film forming ability of ethylcellulose powder?

The film forming ability of ethylcellulose powder and the effect of formulation factors (plasticizer type and concentration) and curing conditions (curing temperature and time) were investigated.

What is the average particle size of ethylcellulose?

The particle size at 50% of total fraction was employed as average particle size. The particle size was the average of three measurements and was 6.1 μm for ethylcellulose. 2.3. Minimum polymer-softening temperature