Binder (material)

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A binder is a material used to bind together two or more other materials in mixtures. Its two principal properties are adhesion and cohesion.

Uses

In art, binders have use in painting, where they hold together paints, pastels, and other materials. Binders used include wax, gum arabic, gum tragacanth, methyl cellulose , gums, or protein such as egg white or casein.

In cooking, various edible thickening agents are used as binders. Some of them, e.g. tapioca flour, lactose, sucrose, microcrystalline cellulose, poly vinyl pyrrolidone and various starches are also used in pharmacology in making tablets.

In explosives, wax or polymers like polyisobutylene or styrene-butadiene rubber are often used as binders for plastic explosives. For polymer-bonded explosives, various synthetic polymers are used.

In rocket fuels, polybutadiene acrylonitrile copolymer was used in 1960-70's big solid-fuel booster rocket fuels.

In composite materials, epoxy, polyester or phenolic resins are common. In reinforced carbon-carbon, plastic or pitch resin is used as a source of carbon released through pyrolysis. Transite used cement as a binder.

Organic binders, designed to disintegrate by heat during baking, are used in sintering.