The Production and Optimization of Printing Ink Derived from Waste Tire Carbon Black

The use of waste tire carbon black from locally sourced in printing ink production was explored as it poses to be both environmentally friendly and economically viable investment. Carbon black pigment was obtained from the pyrolysis of tire, then it undergoes acid demineralization by dissolving the sample in concentrated hydrochloric acid for the period of 24hrs, the sample was then filtered and rinsed thoroughly with distilled water to eliminate unwanted composite that might affect the pigment from giving it best quality, after that the sample was dried in an electric oven at 110℃ for 8hrs, the dried sample was pulverized again. The formulation of offset printing ink from the obtained black pigment was done by dissolving modified starch in water and stir to obtain viscosity, then stearic acid was added as a coupling agent and heated for 30min using magnetic stirrer to form vanish, after which the prepared sample weight 25g and Isopropyl alcohol were added in to the mixture and stirred for 30min using magnetic stirrer to obtain a homogeneous mixture and uniform distribution of the components. The produced ink from carbon black demonstrated good physical properties which include viscosity, opacity, adhesion, eligibility and erasability. The pH was determined to be 5.3 slightly alkaline is less acidic, the viscosity and surface tension was found 57.80 (mN/m) and 38.90 (Pa.s./25° C) to be respectively. The ultimate analysis of the of Waste Tire Carbon Black shows high percent of carbon at 82.92 wt % these shows the waste tires to be rich in carbon materials as while as other elements as O, S and N. The FTIR spectra of the calcinated waste tire powder identified major peaks as C-H, C=O, C-H and OH identified at 3000 cm-1, 1700 cm-1 , 1000-1500 cm-1, and 3500-3600 cm-1 respectively, the presence of C-H and C=H stretches confirms the high amount of carbon and hydrogen observed from the analysis and confirms its hydrocarbon composition. These properties were optimized in this study by varying the concentrations different the solvent ratios. It is hoped that this work introduces an economically viable means for the production of erasable ink from local sources as well as contribute to sustainable waste management.