The chemical compound sodium alginate is the sodium salt of alginic acid. Its empirical chemical formula is NaC6H7O6. Its form as a gum, when extracted from the cell walls of brown algae, is used by the foods industry to increase viscosity and as an emulsifier. It is also used in indigestion tablets and the preparation of dental impressions. Sodium alginate has no discernible flavor.
Another major use of sodium alginate is reactive dye printing, where it is used in the textile industry.
major application for sodium alginate is as thickener for reactive dyestuffs (such as the Procion cotton-reactive dyes) in textile screen-printing and carpet jet-printing. Alginates do not react with these dyes and wash out easily, unlike starch-based thickeners.