Editing Paint (section)

====Binder or film former====
The binder is the film-forming component of paint.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Vermeer's Palette: The Anatomy of Pigment and Binder|url = http://www.essentialvermeer.com/palette/palette_anatomy_of_paint.html#.VieiDCvQO6I|website = www.essentialvermeer.com|access-date = 2015-10-21}}</ref> It is the only component that is always present among all the various types of formulations. Many binders must be thick enough to be applied and thinned. The type of thinner, if present, varies with the binder.

The binder imparts properties such as gloss, durability, flexibility, and toughness.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=McUi1PN4jgEC|title=CourseSmart International E-Book for Environmental Chemistry|last1=Baird|first1=Colin|last2=Cann|first2=Michael|date=2005 |publisher=W. H. Freeman|isbn=9780716748779|language=en}}</ref>

Binders include synthetic or natural resins such as [[alkyd]]s, [[acrylic resin|acrylic]]s, vinyl-acrylics, vinyl acetate/ethylene (VAE), [[polyurethane]]s, [[polyester]]s, [[melamine resin]]s, [[epoxy]], silanes or siloxanes or [[Drying oil|oil]]s.

Binders can be categorized according to the mechanisms for film formation. Thermoplastic mechanisms include drying and coalescence. Drying refers to simply evaporating the solvent or thinner to leave a coherent film behind. Coalescence refers to a mechanism that involves drying followed by actual interpenetration and fusion of formerly discrete particles. Thermoplastic film-forming mechanisms are sometimes described as "thermoplastic cure," but that is a misnomer because no chemical curing reactions are required to knit the film. On the other hand, thermosetting mechanisms are true curing mechanisms involving chemical reaction(s) among the polymers that make up the binder.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Baghdachi|first1=J.|title=Polymer Systems and Film Formation Mechanisms in High Solids, Powder and UV Cure Systems.|url=http://www.swst.org/meetings/AM04/Baghdachi.pdf|website=Society of Wood Science and Technology|access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>