The Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 17 No 2 (2013): 230 – 235

 

 

 

discrimination of black ballpoint pen inks by HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (HPLC)

 

(Diskriminasi Pen Mata Bola Berdakwat Hitam Menggunakan Kromatografi Cecair

Berprestasi Tinggi)

 

Mohamed Izzharif Abdul Halim^*, Norashikin Saim , Rozita Osman , Halila Jasmani ,

Nurul Nadhirah Zainal Abidin

 

Faculty of Applied Sciences

Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam,Selangor

 

*Corresponding author: izzharif@salam.uitm.edu.my

 

 

Abstract

In this study, thirteen types of black ballpoint pen inks of three major brands were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Separation of the ink components was achieved using Bondapak C-18 column with gradient elution using water, ethanol and ethyl acetate. The chromatographic data obtained at wavelength 254.8nm was analyzed using agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) and principle component analysis (PCA). AHC was able to group the inks into three clusters. This result was supported by PCA, whereby distinct separation of the three different brands was achieved. Therefore, HPLC in combination with chemometric methods may be a valuable tool for the analysis of black ballpoint pen inks for forensic purposes.

 

Keywords:  ballpoint inks, principle component analysis, HPLC, chemometric

 

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