No one can tell exactly when ink was invented. It can be argued that ink appeared much earlier than people learned to write.
How ink was done before
The first ink was used for drawing. The oldest ink is soot. She painted on the walls of caves, on the human body, on papyrus.
At first, carbon black was used as a dry powder, then they began to be dissolved in water. This solution served as the prototype for today's ink.
Soot does not dissolve well in water; after drying, it does not adhere well to the carrier. Therefore, oil was used instead of water. The quality of the ink was improved: the oil adhered well to the media, the drawing and writing became clearer, they last longer.
Different peoples at different times used their components. Our ancestors dissolved the powder of dried and ground acorns in linseed oil, the growths on the leaves - galls, which therefore began to be called ink nuts.
Later, colored ink was invented. To obtain red ink, ferrous sulfate was added to the oil. When the demand for ink increased and they began to be made in the factory, color inks from synthetic materials appeared.
How ink is made today
It would seem that today ink is irrelevant. But this is not the case. Ink is still widely used in inkjet printers, ballpoint, gel, capillary pens. Important documents and diplomas are signed in ink. Designers and artists work with ink. Ink seals and stamps are placed on documents.
Technologies change, so do requirements. Like ancient ink, modern ink is composed of a solvent: water, alcohol, glycerin, ethanol; coloring matter: fuchsin, indigo and indigo carmine, ferrous sulfate. Modifiers are added to modern ink that improve their properties - wettability, drying speed, viscosity. These are polyhydric alcohols, sugar, dextrins, latex. Preservatives are intended to preserve for a long time the ink itself, the inscriptions and drawings made by them: oxalic acid, ethanol, sulfacylin.
There are many requirements for ink depending on how and where the ink is applied. Basic requirements: excellent wettability with the carrier and non-wettability with the nib; preservation of color and saturation when storing documents in the light; absorbency; drying speed, resistance to water and solvents; the possibility of mixing to obtain shades; constantly decreasing cost.
curious
Until now, the mystery of the ink of the Mongol monks has not been solved. They knew how to make pearlescent, ruby, sapphire ink.
In Rome, red ink first appeared at the beginning of a new era. They were so rare that only the emperor could write in red ink.
Ink from all types of pens, including ballpoint pens, flows out by gravity. Consequently, they cannot be used during space flight in a state of weightlessness. American scientists have long struggled to improve pens for astronauts. Our compatriots did a simpler thing and provided the astronauts with … simple pencils.
