Ink

Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen or quill.

Types and composition

Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescents, and other materials. The components of inks serve many purposes; the ink's carrier, colorants, and other additives affect the flow and thickness of the ink and its dry appearance.

There are many types of ink, but the most known ones include:

• Fountain pen ink: the most common type of ink used;
• Iron gall ink: one of the easiest and earliest type of ink developed, made by adding a solution of an iron salt to grounded oak galls;
• Invisible ink: a special type of ink used to write down secret texts that can only be seen via UV light or by some chemical means;
• India ink: a simple black or colored ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing and outlining, especially when inking comic books and comic strips;
• Tattoo ink: used for tattoos, are designed to be permanent an non-toxic;
• Printer ink: used by printing machines
• Conductive ink: a special ink that is used to "draw" electrically conductive circuitry. It is typically created by infusing graphite, copper, silver or other conductive materials into ink.

General properties

Inks are viscous liquids, that are miscible with water (those that are water-based). They are always colored (not always true with invisible inks), usually black, blue, red or some other color. Inks generally aren't compatible with corrosive or oxidizing reagents, as most tend to be organic-based and will rapidly break down in the presence of strong reagents.

Availability

Inks can be bought from art and school stores, and are readily available online.

Preparation

Inks can be prepared by mixing the colorant with the carrier liquid.

Projects

• Writing
• Painting
• Historical recreations
• Make Conductive Silver Ink (complex ion based)

Handling and safety

Generally inks aren't toxic, but they will stain.

See also

• Invisible ink
• Iron gall ink

References

Relevant Sciencemadness threads

• Homemade inks/Fountain pen enthusiasts?
• iron gall ink
• Pyrogallol and iron-gall ink
• Remove ink from stamps
• Printer cartridge cleaning fluid