Sodium Silicate It is a well-known binder for sand casting and is compatible with flour and dextrin used in preparing casting materials. Silicate is effective in replacing more expensive vegetable oils and resins used in certain types of molds. The silicate compounds create a hard layer at moderate temperatures with suitable porosity for the release of hot gases and good collapsibility.

For rapid production methods, sodium silicate is used in conjunction with acid reactions from the carbon dioxide process. It can also be used for making self-hardening molds by employing binders made from Portland cement or sodium silicate esters.