In Printing and Textile Industry
It has been a long history since sodium alginate has been used in warp sizing, packing and printing. In printing, it is an ideal kind of material with wide applications in the cotton, wool, silk and synthetic fiber. Especially since active dyestuff came into the world, there has been many years' history of application. Till now, there is no other paste which can compare beauty with it.
The biggest characteristic of it is that it won't react with active dyestuff and form covalent bond owing to own second hydroxyl in its structure without the origin hydroxyl, and meanwhile own strong cathodic carboxyl on its basal ring. Therefore, it not only doesn't absorb the dyestuff but also excludes it. It is easy to move the dyestuff from the paste to the fiber, which benefits keeping clearness and uniformity of the printing. Accordingly, the printing is clear, vivid, high in the dyeing quantity and has good hand touch and firm degree at the same time.
Sodium alginates of medium and low viscosity are both suitable for the printing requirements of net, roll style and handwork printing. Owning rheological property of tpseudo-plasticity, which means that it will turn watery when being cut and restore the original viscidity after losing cutting, they apply to printing fine flower pattern, full ground printing and wet printing, which is characterized by refined line, clear profile and good uniformity.
The food industry
Sodium alginate is widely used in food industry. American call it as "wonderful food additive" and Japanese repute it to be "long-life food additive".
A. Synthetic Food
Sodium alginate is the main material of seaweed,synthetic grape and synthetic cherry.
B. Iced Food
Sodium alginate is taken as a stabilizer of ice cream and ice cream bar because of its dense organization and slow solution speed. It is also the main material of the dainty cold powder and jelly.
C. Cake Food
As a stabilizer of cake (such as cookies, bread, fine dried noodle, chocolates, etc) and a polish of bread, sodium alginate can keep the cookies sweet-smelling and avoid falling to pieces, and make the noodle smooth and reduce breaking ratio of noodle and fragmentation of bread.
Sodium alginate is also a good thickener of jam, chili sauce, jelly, tomato ketchup, fishpaste, pudding and salad flavoring.
D. Drinking
Sodium alginate can act as the stabilizer of the beer and clarifier of the wine.
E. Cold storage and fresh keeping
When food (fruit, fish etc) is covered with the film of sodium alginate and kept isolated from air, the film will stop bacteria from invading, constraint water evaporation of food itself and prolong time of preservation.