Polyethylenimine (PEI) / CAS 9002-98-6

Polyethylene amine (PEI) or polyaziridine is a polymer with repeating units consisting of an amino group and two carbon aliphatic CH2H2 spacers. Linear polyethylene amines contain all secondary amines, unlike branched PEIS, which contain primary, secondary and tertiary amino groups. PEI is produced on an industrial scale and finds many applications, usually due to its polycationic nature.

Polyethylenamine finds many applications in products such as detergents, adhesives, water purifiers, and cosmetics. Due to its ability to change the surface of cellulose fibers, PEI is used as a wet strength agent in the papermaking process. It is also used as a flocculating agent with silica sols and as a chelating agent capable of forming complexes with metal ions such as zinc and zirconium. There are other highly specialized applications of PEI.