Differentiation of Red and Black Ballpoint Pen Inks using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Abstract
The questioned document examiners usually encounter cases related to handwritten documents for the determination of their source, origin, and authenticity. The legal documents usually involve handwriting or signatures executed using ballpoint pens. These components of the ballpoint pen inks can be analysed, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using several techniques. The present study aimed to analyse the red and black ballpoint pen inks using high performance thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques. All samples have been completely differentiated using high performance thin layer chromatography. The discrimination potential of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for red and black ballpoint pen inks was found to be 32.85% and 63.58% respectively. Classification of inks has been performed in two levels, that is, primary differentiation on the grounds of major components of the ink and subsequent differentiation on the basis of minor components. The validity of technique was tested in terms of repeatability and reproducibility. Reproducibility has been determined by repeating the procedure of repeatability on different days. The results have been evaluated in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD), which is <2% for both repeatability and reproducibility.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Barker K, Ramotowski R, Nwokoye J. The effect of
solvent grade on thin layer chromatographic analysis
of writing inks. Forensic Sci Int. 2016; 266: 139-47.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.05.003
Sharma V, Kumar R. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
and high performance thin layer chromatography
for characterization and multivariate discrimination
of blue ballpoint pen ink for forensic applications. Vib
Spectro. 2017; 92:96-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
vibspec.2017.05.006
Lee LC, Yunus ISM, Fuad WNSW, Ishak AA, Osman
K. Statistical Discrimination of Black Ballpoint
Pen Inks Using UltraPerformance Liquid Chromatography
with Principal Component Analysis. J Analyt
Chem.2015; 70 (3):374-7. https://doi.org/10.1134/
S1061934815030119
Sharma V, Kumar R. Dating of ballpoint pen writing
inks via spectroscopic and multiple linear regression
analysis: A novel approach. Microchemical J. 2017; 134:
-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2017.05.014
Chen H.S. Analysis of four ball point pen inks and two
dyes by thin layer chromatography with fluorescence
detection and matrix assisted laser desorption time of
flight and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
Forensic Sci J. 2005;4: 15-27.
da Silva Ferreira P, e Silva DF, Augusti R, Piccin E.
Forensic analysis of ballpoint pen inks using paper
spray mass spectrometry. Analyst. 2015;140(3):811-9.
https://doi.org/10.1039/C4AN01617C
Jones RW, McClelland JF. Analysis of writing inks on
paper using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry.
Forensic Sci Int. 2013;231(1-3):73-81. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2013.04.016
Weyermann C, Marquis R, Mazzella W, Spengler B.
Differentiation of blue ballpoint pen inks by laser desorption
ionization mass spectrometry and high‐performance
thin‐layer chromatography. J forensic sci.
;52(1):216-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-
2006.00303.x
Senior S, Hamed E, Masoud M, Shehata E. Characterization
and dating of blue ballpoint pen inks using
principal component analysis of UV–Vis absorption
spectra, IR spectroscopy, and HPTLC. J forensic sci.
;57(4):1087-93. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-
2012.02091.x
Calcerrada M, Garcia-Ruiz C. Analysis of questioned
document- A review. Analytical Chimica
Acta. 2015; 853: 143-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
aca.2014.10.057
Maind SD, Chattopadhyay N, Gandhi C, Kumar SC,
Sudersanan M. Quantitative evaluation of europium in
blue ballpoint pen inks/offset printing inks tagged with
europium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate by spectrofluorometry
and ICP-AES. Sci Justice. 2008;48(2):61-6. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2007.09.007
Lee LC, Nunurung SM, Ishak AA. Feasibility of
HPTLC for the forensic analysis of red ballpoint pen
inks. The Malaysian J Analytical Sci. 2014; 97:14-19.
Lee LC, Nunurung SM, Ishak AA. Forensic analysis
of blue ballpoint pen inks on questioned documents by
HPTLC. The Malaysian J Analytical Sci. 2014; 18(2) :
-253.
Lee LC, Nunurung SM, Ishak AA. The analysis of dyes
in black ballpoint pen inks using HPTLC. The Malaysian
J Analytical Sci. 2014; 5(2): 22-26.
Hosu A, Pop B, Cimpoiu C. The forensic analysis of
pigments from some inks bye HTLC, Journal of Liquid
Chromatography and Related Technologies. 2015; 38:
-1112. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826076.2015.10
Aginsky VN. Using TLC and GC-MS to determine
whether inks came from the same manufacturing batch.
Journal of American Society of Questioned Document
Examiner. 1996; 9(1):19-27.
Laporte GM. The identification of 2-phenoxyethanol
in ballpoint inks using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-
Relevance to ink dating. J forensic sci. 2004;
(1): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1520/JFS2003217
Neumann C, Margot P. New perspective in the use of
ink evidence in forensic science- Part I. Development
of quality assurance process for forensic ink analysis by
HPTLC. Forensic Sci Int. 2009; 185: 29-37. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.11.016
Senior S, Hamed E, Masoud M, Shehata E. Characterization
and dating of blue ballpoint pen inks using principal
component analysis of UV-Vis absorption spectra,
IR spectroscopy and HPTLC. J forensic sci. 2012;
(4): 1087-1093. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-
2012.02091.x
Wayermann C, Marquis R, Mazzella W, Spengler B.
Differentiation of blue ballpoint pen inks by laser desorption
ionization mass spectrometry and high performance
thin layer chromatography. J forensic sci.
; 52(1): 216-220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-
2006.00303.x
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26735/16586794.2018.011
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.