Chemical components of blue ballpoint pen ink

Blue ball pen ink includes dye, fatty acid and alcohol to ensure uniform ink, quick drying and paper sticking.

Ink ball pen has a development history of about 50 years. Big pen manufacturers keep their ink formula secret, according to Wired.

To create the classic blue ink used today, firms mix a mixture of colors. They are likely to use Phthalocyanine blue (chemical formula C 32 H 18 N 8 ), also known as crystal violet and Prussian dark blue (chemical formula Fe7 (CN) 18 one color long-time favorite artists.

Picture 1 of Chemical components of blue ballpoint pen ink
Ink ball pen has a development history of about 50 years.(Photo: Wordpress).

Fe 7 (CN) 18 was also used in World War I as an invisible ink . Spies use iron chloride to write a secret letter, then the reader uses potassium ferrocyanide (K 3 [Fe (CN) 6 ]) to make the ink appear. In addition, purple crystals have antibacterial properties, so they are used as a cure for infections and thrush in young children.

The pigments will be mixed with benzyl alcohol , a perfume made from chin fruit and phenoxyethanol, ingredients used in many products from insect repellents to disinfectants. These two ingredients work to make the dye flow evenly on the paper according to the rotating ball.

In order for the ink to seep into the paper, it needs an appropriate surface tension. Manufacturers mix more alkyl alkanolamide to reduce the strain of the ink solution so that it can seep into the paper before the ink dries.

Finally, in order to prevent the ink from sticking on the brass tip (copper-zinc alloy), the ball bearings are used to make the ball always smooth and easy to rotate, even if the pen is long. write.