A novel microdestructive capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for the analysis of blue pen ink strokes has been published. The analysis of pen inks can be challenging because ink compositions are usually under patent, the samples are small, and inks can degrade over time.
A novel microdestructive capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for the analysis of blue pen ink strokes has been published in the Journal of Chromatography A.1 The analysis of pen inks can be challenging because ink compositions are usually under patent, the samples are small, and inks can degrade over time.
CE has previously given promising results when applied to the analysis of questionable documents, according to coauthor Matías Calcerrada. He told The Column: “We believe that CE could be an efficient analytical technique for casework involving questioned documents, due to advantages such as its minimal sample consumption and ability to detect and quantify different analytes found in ink formulations.”
The team developed a microdestructive sample treatment method using a scalpel to scratch 0.3 mg of an ink stroke from paper, prior to analysis using CE with a DAD detector. Samples of ink from 34 blue pens from different technologies (ballpoint, rollerball, marker) with different composition (gel, water-based, oil-based) were analyzed to discriminate between different technologies and inks. Calcerrada said: “We believe that the results published demonstrate that the method could be applied in forensic casework after applying other non-destructive methodologies, which are always recommended before destroying the sample.” - B.D.
Reference
1. Matías Calcerrada, Journal of Chromatography A1400, 140–148 (2015).
LC–MS/MS-Based System Used to Profile Ceramide Reactions to Diseases
April 26th 2024Scientists from the University of Córdoba in Córdoba, Spain recently used liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to comprehensively profile human ceramides to determine their reactions to diseases.
High-Throughput 4D TIMS Method Accelerates Lipidomics Analysis
April 25th 2024Ultrahigh-pressure liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) had been previously proposed for untargeted lipidomics analysis, but this updated approach was reported by the authors to reduce run time to 4 min.