What was ink made of

And if you delve into finding out more about ink, you will learn as I did that people use a lot of ink writing about ink--although I calculate that it took only microliters to print the page you are reading. More about that later. What is ink? I already had a general idea what ink is: It is an organic or inorganic pigment or dye dissolved or suspended in a solvent--essentially the same as paint.

I confirmed that fact after digging around a bit, and then learned a whole lot more. I found out that the first inks were fruit or vegetable juices; protective secretions from cephalopods such as squid, cuttlefish, and octopus; blood from some types of shellfish; and tannin from galls, nuts, or bark from trees.

The first man-made ink appeared in Egypt about 4, years ago and was made from animal or vegetable charcoal lampblack mixed with glue. Today's inks are divided into two classes: printing inks and writing inks. Printing inks are further broken down into two subclasses: ink for conventional printing, in which a mechanical plate comes in contact with or transfers an image to the paper or object being printed on; and ink for digital nonimpact printing, which includes ink-jet and electrophotographic technologies.

Color printing inks are made primarily with linseed oil, soybean oil, or a heavy petroleum distillate as the solvent called the vehicle combined with organic pigments.

The pigments are made up of salts of multiring nitrogen-containing compounds dyes , such as yellow lake, peacock blue, phthalocyanine green, and diarylide orange. Inorganic pigments also are used in printing inks to a lesser extent. Black ink is made using carbon black.

And white pigments, such as titanium dioxide, are used either by themselves or to adjust characteristics of color inks. Inks also contain additives such as waxes, lubricants, surfactants, and drying agents to aid printing and to impart any desired special characteristics. The Census Bureau tracks about printing ink companies in the U. Older style writing inks, such as in fountain pens, use a fluid water-based dye system.

But in the s, when ballpoint pens became fashionable, the writing ink industry shifted to pastelike oil-based dye systems. In India, ink was made since 4th century BC. Only problem with this ink was that it is corrosive and damages the paper it is on. In 12th century Europe, ink was also made from branches of hawthorn which were cut in the spring and left to dry. Then the bark from the branches would be peeled off and left to soak in water for eight days.

That water would be boiled until it is thick and black but while boiling, wine would be added to it. That thick and black liquid would be poured in bags and left on sun to dry. When it is dried, wine again and iron salt would be mixed with it over fire. Resulting mixture would be ink ready to use. Together, pen and ink changed the face of the humanity and are regarded because of that as one of the greatest inventions.

Thus enters the popularity of soy-based and other vegetable-based inks. These inks, as covered in our sustainability discussion, are much more sustainable and have much fewer adverse impacts on the environment. So how about them apples? As always, to stay on top of Beyond the Box as new episodes are released, don't forget to subscribe!

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