What Happens When You Heat Up Ink?

[PolarMoonman]

I am curious as to what happens when you apply heat to an ink.

 

I am curious about heating it to like 100 degrees

and then about what happens if you boil ink...

[JefferyS]

Depends entirely on the composition of that ink. Dyes in ink are carbon-based compounds that break down at higher temperatures. Pigments in paints are less likely to.

[PolarMoonman]

Depends entirely on the composition of that ink. Dyes in ink are carbon-based compounds that break down at higher temperatures. Pigments in paints are less likely to.

 

So in short the ink would chemically fall apart?

What would you be left with?

Edited April 10, 2013 by ParkersandPilots

[JefferyS]

It's called hydrolysis. Bonds between caron and oxygen, and bonds between carbon and nitrogen are broken.

[PolarMoonman]

It's called hydrolysis. Bonds between caron and oxygen, and bonds between carbon and nitrogen are broken.

 

After the Hydrolysis occurs what would be left over?

[JefferyS]

Smaller, more oxidized fragments of organic molecules.

[PolarMoonman]

Smaller, more oxidized fragments of organic molecules.

 

In English??? :embarrassed_smile:

[WanderingAuthor]

I'm not a chemist, but rust is oxidised iron. So I'd guess the point is that the compounds would break down into other compounds, combine with oxygen, and form a different brew of chemicals from what you started with. I do know just enough to know perfectly harmless chemicals can turn into something worse with the right change, so I think I'd want to be careful about breathing in any of the fumes if I tried this. And, of course, the exact result would differ with every brand and colour of ink.

 

(Since you can't be sure the changes won't make the ink harmful to your pens, I don't think I'd put any previously heated ink into a pen, either. At least, I don't like risking my pens. I even keep the broken ones, in hopes I can get them fixed some day...)

[JefferyS]

Organic molecules (ultimately from living things) contain carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen (at a minimum; they may also contain sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen). They differ from most inorganic compounds (metals, halogens gases) by having the ability to be oxidized (removal of electrons, hydrogens, and energy) or reduced (addition of electrons, hydrogens, and energy). Heating organic compounds often changes them by breaking them into smaller molecules. Oxidizing organic molecules completely gives us CO_2, which must be put back together by our plant friends.

Proteins are the most easily modified (denatured) by heat. Dyes in inks are not proteins, but they can be changed by heat. Cooling doesn't usually cause a problem other than making them more likely to crystalize.