A substance added to something in small quantities to improve or preserve it.

Additives may be included in aviation fuels to improve fuel performance — generally by eliminating undesirable effects — or to meet specific requirements of certain aircraft or airline operators.

A compound containing a ligand (typically organic) bonded to a central metal atom at two or more points.

An organic compound consisting exclusively of the elements carbon and hydrogen. The carbon atoms are arranged in straight or branched chain or ring structures.

Being or composed of matter other than plant or animal: mineral.

A United States defense standard used to help achieve standardization objectives by the U.S. Department of Defense. Standardization is beneficial in achieving interoperability, ensuring products meet certain requirements, commonality, reliability, total cost of ownership, compatibility with logistics systems, and similar defense-related objectives. (i.e., MIL-SPEC)

A repeating unit in a polymer chain. The term monomer is derived from the Greek word “mono” meaning one.

An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is a viscous liquid at ambient temperatures and is both hydrophobic (immiscible with water, literally "water fearing") and lipophilic (miscible with other oils, literally "fat loving"). Oils have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are usually flammable and surface active.

Chemicals derived from plant and animal fats. They are analogous to petrochemicals derived from petroleum.

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.

An organic compound added to a high polymer both to facilitate processing and to increase the flexibility and toughness of the final product by internal modification (solvation) of the polymer molecule. Polyvinyl chloride and cellulose esters are the largest consumers of plasticizers.

When identical simple molecules (monomers) come together and link up in a chain-like fashion, they form a polymer. The chemical reaction that forms a polymer is called polymerization. There are natural polymers (often referred to as biopolymers), such as cellulose, rubber and DNA, and synthetic polymers, such as polyethylene, nylon and PVC. Most resins are polymers.

A hard, unreactive, colorless compound that occurs as the mineral quartz and as a principal constituent of sandstone and other rocks.

Any number of polymers containing alternate silicon and oxygen atoms, with organic groups attached to the silicon atoms. Such compounds are typically resistant to chemical attack and insensitive to temperature changes and are used in polishes and lubricants and can make rubber and plastics.

The particular mixture of liquids that gives the desired flow or evaporation properties.

A substance capable of dissolving another substance (solute) to form a uniformly dispersed mixture (solution) at the molecular or ionic size level. Solvents can be chosen or blended to dissolve almost any kind of material, and they are an important part of the chemical industry.

Short for surface-active agent, surfactants are used to describe a chemical that will reduce the surface tension of water when it is added to it. This enables the water to mix with materials it would otherwise not dissolve, such as grease. There are three categories: detergents, wetting agents, and emulsifiers; all use the same basic chemical mechanism and differ in the nature of the surfaces involved.