TE - Triethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether

About This Product

Triethylene glycol monoethyl ether, TE, has the formula C8H18O4 and CAS number 112-50-5. It is a clear colourless liquid of low odour and very low volatility, miscible with water and with most polar organic solvents. It occupies the slow, hydrophilic corner of the glycol ether range, one carbon further along the alkyl ladder than TM. The practical consequence of a three-unit backbone is that evaporation effectively ceases to be a design variable: the solvent stays in the system through processing and into the finished product, which is either the point or a problem depending on the application. Where it is the point, the material functions as a permanent plasticiser, humectant or carrier that does not dry out, in inks that must not skin in the reservoir, in fluids that must not lose volume, and in systems where solvent loss would change viscosity over time. Its ethyl cap gives slightly better compatibility with organic resins than the methyl equivalent while retaining full water miscibility. It is used in printing inks, hydraulic and brake fluids, textile and leather processing, plasticisers and as a chemical intermediate. Bio Green Chem supplies TE to specification on assay, water, acidity, colour, peroxide and residue.