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The ink composition has changed as different printing methods have been developed
Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Cross
Ink used in printers and copiers is a complex mixture of ingredients is far from the original parts used when humans first put pen, or pen to parchment or paper.
Historically there were two main types of ink. carbon-based ink has been developed by the ancient Egyptians and Chinese around 2500 BC and was generally made of carbon black or soot, and a binder such as gum Arabic or animal glue to keep the carbon particles in suspension and attached to the document.
biliary iron inks were used extensively in the early 12 th century and were made from tannic acid and iron salt. They are believed that the best type of ink, but the iron gall ink is corrosive and damages the paper it is on.
Color usually is obtained from natural substances as blue wood, saffron or turmeric yellow red, scarlet cochineal insect derived from Arabic called Kermez and Tyrian purple was the juice of the Purpurea, a sea shell.
With the industrial revolution in the early nineteenth century, the development of synthetic chemicals occurred. The synthetic dye for Mauve was discovered by William Henry Perkins, when he was in search of a cure for malaria. This dye became commercially important, since it could add ink. During the next fifty years the number of synthetic dyes was found to increase, which was then dominated by the Germans.
The arrival personal computers and printers at home revolutionized the history of ink and its development. Once the technology changed the printer dot matrix, where the characters impact are printed, inkjet where the ink is sprayed onto the paper, ink chemistry became more sophisticated.
Inkjet inks are water based and solvent. The original pigment inks covered until an effective detergent, which acted as a dispersant was added. For effective output on modern printers and copiers Inks must be identical in size droplets, not clogging the printer head, high optical density and fast drying. water-soluble inks are more widespread, as are used for smaller inkjet printers.
The ink is now a complex mixture of four main components, colorants, vehicles (folders), additives and carrier substances. The ingredients are water (50 to 90 percent), coloring (1 to 15 percent), humectants, such as alcohol or glycol (2 to 20 percent), fasteners (0 to 10 percent), surfactants (0.1 to 6 percent), resins (0.2 to 10 percent), biocides (0.02 to 0.4 percent), fungicides (0.01 to 0.4 percent) and buffers (0.05 to 1 percent).
As the costs of raw materials has increased considerably in the last couple of years, the inks have become much more expensive and often people look for a cheaper alternative property that makes recommended for printing machines and home office.
Research conducted by a known provider of computer equipment, however, in the cartridge refill cheap generic inks are a number of problems. Some clogged the printhead nozzles quickly consistent and that some tests had to be aborted.
Another brand produces white wide stripes on impressions and self-refilling of using a kit proved a messy process. The final problem identified testing the permanence of the ink with many of the generic inks lasting no more than a year.
About the Author
Ali Withers
, writing for
Firstcopy, Cambridge
, explores the changes in the composition of ink from the time when humans first put pen, or quill, to parchment or paper to those used in modern printers and copiers.
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