Coatings contribute to about 10% of the overall cost of paper production of which, the binder is the
highest cost component in the formulation. In addition to costs, the binders that are currently being used
are synthesized from fossil fuel feedstock raising concerns towards the sustainability of paper coatings.
Furthermore, papers coated with waxes, polyolefins and other synthetic materials are difficult to recycle
or compost. These challenges inherent with synthetic binders can be addressed by using renewable, plant
based binders. This research focused on an abundant and underutilized source of hemicellulose based
binders (DG gum) that can be extracted from distiller’s dried grains. The extracted binder was compared
with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in a coating formulation consisting of 10:1 CaCO3 to binder formulation
coated on light weight paper. Cobb test, dry and wet tensile tests, optical properties (brightness, color,
opacity), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) analysis were performed to compare the hemicellulose
based binder with PVA. The results indicate water absorptivity reduction by 25% for both DG gum and
PVA coatings from the base paper value. Dry tensile index was lower with higher coating weights for
both coatings with similar performance. The performance on WVTR analysis for both coatings was also
comparable. No significant differences in optical properties after coating were observed from that of the
base paper. These results suggest that hemicellulose based binder extracted from distiller’s grains has
the potential to replace synthetic binders in paper coating formulations.