Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is a derivative of cellulose with both water solubility and organic solubility, it is used as food additive and sieving matrix for DNA separations.

Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) has a relatively low viscosity, allowing for microchip channel filling to be performed with ease at concentrations as high as 5%, a MES/TRIS buffer system at pH 6.1 eliminates the need for surface preconditioning procedures due to the promotion of hydrogen bonding of HPC with the wall. [1] Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is used as a core molecule for controlled grafting of monomers by ATRP. Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is either allowed to react with an ATRP initiator or the first generation initiator-functionalized 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid dendron to create macroinitiators having high degrees of functionality. [2] Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)/vinyl polymer networks are synthesized in film form from liquid-crystalline solutions of HPC in a mixed solvent of methacrylate monomer/methanol/water (2:1:2 in weight) containing cross-linking agents, via photopolymerization of the methacrylate monomer. The polymer composite films, HPC/PDEGMEM and HPC/PHPMA, prepared at ca. 60-70 wt % concentrations of HPC in the starting solutions, are iridescently colored due to the selective light reflection, originating from the cholesteric helical arrangement carried over successively into the network system. [3]