Editing Excipient (section)

===Binders===
Binders hold the ingredients in a tablet together. Binders ensure that tablets and granules can be formed with required mechanical strength, and give volume to low active dose tablets. Binders are usually:
* [[Saccharide]]s and their derivatives:
** [[Disaccharide]]s: [[sucrose]], [[lactose]];
** [[Polysaccharide]]s and their derivatives: [[starch]]es, [[cellulose]] or modified cellulose such as [[microcrystalline cellulose]] and [[cellulose#Derivatives|cellulose ethers]] such as [[hydroxypropyl cellulose]] (HPC);
** [[Sugar alcohol]]s such as [[xylitol]], [[sorbitol]] or [[maltitol|mannitol]];
* Protein: [[gelatin]];
* Synthetic [[polymer]]s: [[polyvinylpyrrolidone]] (PVP), [[polyethylene glycol]] (PEG)...

Binders are classified according to their application:
*Solution binders are dissolved in a solvent (for example [[water]] or [[ethanol|alcohol]] can be used in wet granulation processes).  Examples include gelatin, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, polyvinylpyrrolidone, starch, sucrose and polyethylene glycol.
*Dry binders are added to the powder blend, either after a wet granulation step, or as part of a direct powder compression (DC) formula.  Examples include cellulose, methyl cellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol.