TO STUDY ABOUT THE
PREPARATION METHODS
OF INK
INTRODUCTION:
In our daily life we directly or indirectly
depend upon ink, be it advertising a product,
preparing a speech to deliver at public gathering,
writing examinations, printing books, newspapers,
invitation cards, posters, question papers and much
more. Ink is considered as a wonder liquid which
helps to express our thoughts, feelings, emotions in
the form of non-verbal mode of communication.
This project throws a light on types of inks from
manufacturing point of view and includes method
for preparing ink at home or either at chemical
laboratory.
AIM:
To study about the preparation methods of ink.
INK:
• What is Ink?
Ink is a liquid or paste that contains
pigments or dyes and used to colour a surface to
produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for
drawing, printing and writing with the help of a
pen, brush or any other equipments. Thicker inks
in paste form are used extensively in newsletters
and lithographic printings. Ink is an essential
item for students, teachers, authors and others.
• Components of ink:
Over 90% of the inks are
printing inks, in which colour is imparted by
pigments. The rest are writing ink which uses
dyes to colour. The raw materials which is used
to manufacture ink are,
➢Pigments:
The role of a pigment is to colour the ink
and make it opaque. Pigments can also
provide gloss, abrasiveness, and resistance
to attack by light and heat.
➢Binders:
Resins are primary binders. They
bind the other ingredients of the ink together
into a film and bind it to a paper. They also
contribute to such properties as gloss and
resistance to heat.
➢Solvents:
Solvents are used to keep the ink
liquid form when it is applied to the printing
plate or cylinder until it has been transferred
to the surface to be printed. At this point, the
solvent must separate from the body of the
ink to allow the image to dry and bind to the
surface.
➢Additives:
Many different types of
additives are use to alter the physical
properties of the ink to suit different
situations.
HOW IT WAS PREPARED IN ANCIENT
TIMES :
The history of Chinese inks can be traced back to
the 12th century BC, with the utilization of natural
plant (plant dyes), animal (squid ink), and mineral
offset ink based materials such as graphite that
were ground with water and applied with ink
brushes. Evidence for the earliest Chinese ink,
similar to modern ink sticks, was around 256 BC
produced using manual labour from soot and
animal glue.
About 1,600 years ago, a popular ink recipe was
created. The recipe was used for centuries. Iron
salts, such as sulphate (made by treating iron oxide
with sulphuric acid), were mixed with tannin from
gallnuts (they grow on trees) and thickener. When
first put to paper, this ink is bluish black in colour,
overtime it fades to a dull brown.
TYPES OF INK:
Ink is classified on the basis of
use and on the basis of manufacturing,
• On the basis for the purpose to which it is
used:
▪ Pen ink:
Pen inks are oil or water based and contain
additives that dye the ink a certain colour.
For example, black ink contains carbon
black and blue ink contains phthalocyanine
blue.
▪ Printer ink:
Most color printers follow CMYK
(cyan,magenta,yellow,black) to make new
colors by the combining the above
mentioned colors.
▪ Edible ink:
Edible inks are made from water, sugar and
FDA-approved colorants. They are usually
used to make logos on cakes and cookies.
▪ Erasable ink:
This ink is made of a liquid rubber cement,
which makes it possible to remove the pen
marks through a combination of friction and
heat.
▪ Fluorescent ink:
Fluorescein is a chemical used to make
highlighter ink. It’s what gives the
highlighters their neon colour when the ink
is applied to the paper. Different additives
are used to make different colour of ink, for
example pyranine is used to make yellow
highlighters.
▪ Adhesive ink:
Temporary tattoos are made from regular
ink which an special extra layer coating,
when moisture applied it transfers the image
onto the surface.
On the basis of manufacturing:
• Aniline ink:
These are the inks prepared from aniline dye
which is dissolved in alcohol and bound with a
resin.
Following substances are mixed for preparing this
type of ink.
1) Main materials:
blue-black colour- Naphtha blue black
Blue colour - Acid blue, Methylene blue
Red colour - Scarlet red, Eosin
Black colour - Aniline black
Green colour - Malachite green
Some aniline colours are also used in
preparing ink which is dissolved directly in water.
2) Other materials:
✓ Glue:
Gum Arabic (or gum acacia) is dissolved in
hot water and this results in a sticky solution.
Mixing of this in an ink solution, helps in many
ways,
a) The ink colour turns bright.
b) The colour of the ink does not fade with
time.
c) The flow of ink is maintained smooth.
✓ Glycerine:
Sometimes, glycerine is also used in preparing
ink. The mixing of glycerine checks the early
drying of ink. This is mainly used in preparing
stamp pad inks.
✓ Alcohol:
Spirit or alcohol is mixed in ink because it
helps in,
a) Quick drying of ink
b) The ink does not diffuse on papers after
writing.
✓ Boric or carbolic acids:
The principle constituents of ink are organic in
nature. The breakdown of these materials spoils
the ink and this causes deposition of
constituents in the ink pot of the fountain pen.
Incorporation of boric or carbolic acids to the
ink preparation solves the problem.
✓ Scented materials:
The organic decay of ink gives it sometimes
foul smell. To avoid this, scented materials are
incorporated at the time of ink preparation.
• Method for preparing Aniline ink:
1) Make a solution of 2.5% of your desired ink
in distilled water.
2) Add Gum Arabic of suitable amount to the
solution.
3) Heat the solution for 5 minutes.
4) Leave the solution to cool, filter the above
solution, make sure you carefully filter the
solution, filtration should be repeated
several timesw.
5) Add a small amount of boric acid , alcohol
and the scented material to the fitrate.
6) The solution is filtered again and bottled in
cans, and sent to the market.
7) If stamp pad ink to be made add glycerine in
place of alcohol during preparation.
• Gallo-tannic ink:
Gallo-tannic ink or Iron gall ink is made
heating oak apples with water, the extract is
obtained by filtering it with a cloth and the
extract contains gallotannic acid in it, by adding
Iron sulphate and Hydrochloric Acid to it, it gets
converted into a black liquid which is due to the
formation of iron gallate. This black liquid is
known Gallo-tannic ink.
The other materials used are carbolic acid
or boric acid, Gum Arabic, spirit or alcohol,
glycerine and scented material etc… These
substances play the same role in this case as in
aniline ink.
• Method of preparation for Gallo-tannic ink:
1) Dissolve 250 g of tannic acid and 80g of
gallic acid in about 5 litres of distilled water
2) To this solution 250 ml dilute HCl is added.
3) Dissolve a 300g of Iron Sulphate and 20 g
carbolic acid in a separate container along
with 4 L of water.
4) In a third container a desired container is
dissolved in a little water.
5) All the three solutions are mixed together
6) Filter once again and store in bottles. The ink
is ready for use.
HOW TO PREPARE INK AT HOME:
One drop at a time, add hot distilled water to the
bowl of lampblack (you can make your own by
completely burning paper or wood) – stop adding
water before you think the maximum point is
reached and if you accidentally, get too much
water, add more lampblack. Mix until the water
is an inky black (lampblack floats and is difficult
to dissolve). Once the water is inky black, add a
small amount of gum Arabic and mix until the
gum has been completely dissolved in the warm
liquid (this home-made liquid should at the same
consistency as commercially prepared). Store the
ink in a small glass bottle for future use. A
variant of this recipe is by mixing one egg yolk,
one tablespoon gum Arabic, ½ cup of honey, and
then stir it with half tablespoon of lampblack.
This will produce a thick paste which you can
store in a sealed container. To use the ink, mix
this paste with a small amount of water to
achieve the desired consistency.
