US Patent 7582354 Material composition

A material composition comprises, on the one hand, a particulate material and, on the other hand, a binder which is provided as a coating on the material particles. The binder has at least two solid phases (13, 14), of which one harder phase (14) is configurationally stable and a softer phase (13) is plastic and readily deformable at temperatures below the melting point of the binder. A method for producing the above material comprises the steps that at least two components included in the binder are melted and mixed, whereafter kneading takes place during cooling. The material composition is usable, for example, as a play material, educational material, for sculptures or prototypes or as landscape architectonic material.