Thermochromic Ink

Thermochromic inks change from the colourless to colourful or vice versa with the changes in temperature. These inks make use of thermochromism, which refers to “materials that change their hues in response to temperature fluctuations”. These inks are also know as leucodyes, which are organic (carbon-based) chemicals that change in molecular structure due to heat energy. The varied interactions with light result in different colours seen by the eye.

Materials required:

  • Thermochromic pigments
  • Clear base (like resin, glue, polymorph, etc)
  • Silkscreen
  • Light coloured fabric
Thermochromic pigment

Technique:

  • Mix the pigment in paint, resin, glue, Polymorph, etc to create the ink
  • Spread the ink unto a silkscreen
  • Apply unto a light coloured fabric
  • Allow to air-dry
  • The print turns colourless when exposed to temperature around 22 degree celsius
  • However, if over heated to above 200 degree celsius, irreversible damage to the dye might occur
  • Also, note that mixing the pigment in non-clear bases might  not produce the same results
Preparation of materials
Resulting prints

Applications include:

  • Products naturally exposed to the human heat, creating interaction in the mundane.
  • An example is the masks designed by Marjan Kooroshnia, a Swedish textile-design student
Thermochromic masks
Thermochromic thermometer, furniture, baby bottle and mood ring found on the Internet

Personal reflection:

Chemistry really plays a big role in this application! New technologies and inventions bring about a wave of uses  and solutions to problems.

It also takes some experimentation in the application of these pigments and dyes. When the light yellow thermochromic dye was mixed with blue acrylic paint, the resulting print could not change in colour.

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