THICKENING AGENT AND HYDROLYZABLE CELLULOSE PRODUCING PROCESS USING SAME

摘要

The purpose of the present invention is to provide: a thickening agent which is to be used in producing a hydrolyzable cellulose from a raw material comprising a cellulosic biomass and which can impart suitable viscosity to a solution that contains a cellulosic biomass and thereby facilitate the scission of the cellulosic biomass on the molecular level to enables efficient production of a hydrolyzable cellulose; and a hydrolyzable cellulose producing process using the thickening agent. The present invention is a thickening agent which is to be used in producing a hydrolyzable cellulose from a raw material comprising a cellulosic biomass and which is characterized by containing a polyvinyl alcohol polymer which comprises monomer units that each bear an alkyl group having at most 29 carbon atoms and that each contain eight or more carbon atoms.