Chemistry project

Preparation of ink

Parinita
Xi science
Roll no. – 32
Jawahar navodayA
vidyalaya bandrol kullu
contents
• Certificate
• Acknowledgement
• Introduction
• What is Ink?
• How it was prepared in the ancient times
• Types of Ink
• Aniline Ink
• Method of preparing Aniline Ink
• Gallo-tannic Ink
• Method of preparation of Gallo-tannic ink
• How to prepare ink at home
• Bibliography
Certificate

This is to certify that Parinitaof class XI has successfully

completed the project work on chemistry on the topic
‘Preparation of Ink’

It is further certified that this project is original and individual

work of the Candidate.

Yours Truly

Parinita
Acknowledgement

I would like to express my greatest gratitude to the people

who have helped & supported me throughout my project. I
am grateful to my subject teacher “Mrs. Poonam Sen ma’am”
for her continuous support for the project, from initial advice
& contacts in the early stages of conceptual inception &
through ongoing advice & encouragement to this day.

A special thank of mine goes to my colleague who helped me

in completing the project & he exchanged his interesting
ideas, thoughts & made this project easy and accurate.

I wish to thank my parents for their undivided support and

interest who inspired me and encouraged me to go my own
way, without whom I would be unable to complete my
project. At last but not the least I want to thank my friends
who appreciated me for my work and motivated me and
finally to God who made all the things possible...

Introduction
 Many say that pen is mightier than sword, but ever thought
that what makes the pen mightier? Yes it is the wonder
liquid INK. You might have used ink many times for writing
but have you ever bothered that from where it comes? How
it is prepared? What materials are used in its preparation?
Etc. I’m sure your answer would be NO! But don’t worry
this project includes answer of all your questions.
This project throws a light on types of inks from
manufacturing point of view and includes method for
preparing them either in chemistry laboratory or at home.

Ink
➢ What is Ink?
 Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and /
or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce
an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and / or
writing with a pen, brush, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste
form, are used extensively
in letterpress and lithographic printing. Ink is an
essential item for students, teachers, authors and others.
Ink was first, used by the Egyptians around 4000 years
ago.
➢ Ink formulas vary, but commonly involve four
components:

1) Colorants
2) Vehicles (binders)
3) Additives
4) Carrier substances

How it was
prepared in the
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 on such
materials as graphite that were ground with water and
applied with ink brushes. Evidence for the earliest Chinese
inks, similar to modern ink sticks, is around 256 BC in the end
of the Warring States Period and 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 ferrous
sulfate (made by treating iron with sulfuric acid), were mixed
with tannin from gallnuts (they grow on trees) and a
thickener. When first put to paper, this ink is bluish-black.
Over time it fades to a dull brown.

Types of ink

On the basis of use On the basis of

 Manufacturing

(a) Blue ink, (I) Aniline ink,

(b) Black ink, (II) Gallo-tannic ink.

(c) Blue-black ink,

(d) Green ink,

(e) Red ink,

(f) Stamp pad ink.

In this project you will learn about preparation of Aniline

and Gallo-tannic ink with respect to particular colors

Aniline Ink
Following substances are mixed for preparing this type of
ink:
(1) Main Materials
 Blue-black color - Naphtha blue-black
Blue color - Acid blue, Methylene blue
Red color - Scarlet red, Eosin
Black color - Aniline black
Green color - Malachite green
Some aniline colors are also used in preparing ink
which is dissolved directly in water.
(2) Other materials
(i) 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 turns bright.
(b) The color of ink does not fade with time.
(c) The flow of ink is maintained smooth.
(ii) 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
the stamp pad inks.
(iii) Alcohol : Spirit or alcohol is mixed in ink because it
helps in :
 (a) Quick drying of ink, and
(b) The ink does not diffuse on papers after writing.
(iv) Boric or carbolic acids: The principal constituents of
ink are organic in nature. The breakdown of these
materials spoils the ink and this causes deposition of
constituents in fountain pen of in the ink pot.
Incorporation of boric or carbolic acid to the ink
preparation checks this problem.
(v) 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 of
preparing Aniline
Ink
➢ For preparing a particular colored ink, first of all a 2.5%
solution of that color in distilled water is made.
➢ To this, is added a suitable amount of glue solution.
➢ Now the solution is mixed well and heated for 5 minutes.
➢ During heating, the contents are constantly agitated.
➢ On cooling, the solution is filtered. The process of filtration
is a very important step and is carefully repeated several
times.
➢ To this is now, mixed a little amount, each of boric acid or
carbolic acid, alcohol or spirit and scented material.
➢ This preparation is filtered again and bottled.
➢ If one desires to get a stamp-pad ink then glycerine should
be used in place of alcohol during preparation.
Gallo-tannic Ink
The following substances are used in its preparations:
(1) Chief constituents : Following substances are the chief
constituents :
(i) Tannic and Gallic acids are used as chief
constituents to get blue-black ink.
(ii) Ferrous sulphate and hydrochloric acid also
helps in providing blue-black color to the
ink and check the growth of fungus.
Other materials: The other materials used are carbolic
acid or boric acid, gum Arabic or gum acacia, spirit or
alcohol, glycerine and scented material etc. These
substances play the same role in this case as in aniline
ink.
Basically, it is a mixture of ferrous sulphate, tannic acid
and Gallic acid; it is, therefore, also called Iron-gall ink.
Method of
preparation of
Gallo-tannic ink
➢ Dissolve 250 gm of tannic acid and 80 gm of Gallic acid
in about 5 liters of distilled water.
➢ To this solution 250 ml dilute HCl is added.
➢ Dissolve in a separate container 300 gm ferrous sulphate,
20 gm carbolic acid about 4 liters of water.
➢ In a third container, the desired color is dissolved in a
little water.
➢ All the three solutions are mixed together.
➢ Also add a little of glue solution, alcohol, scented material,
mix well, filter and keep the filtrate for a few days.
➢ 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
you should 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 dissolved in the warm liquid (this
homemade ink should be the same consistency as
commercially prepared ink). Store the ink in a small glass
bottle for future use. A variant of this recipe is: mix together
one egg yolk, one tablespoon gum Arabic and 1/2 cup honey;
then stir in 1/2 tablespoon 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.
Bibliography

This project would not have been a reality without the help

of my teachers, my friends and class mates and especially—

• Book- Chemistry for class x (U.P.board)

• Websites- www.google.com

www.wikipedia.org

www.kingswoodinks.com

• TV Channel- Discovery