THE FACTORS INVOLVED IN NICOTINE DISCOLORATION
Nicotine has an unpleasant smell, bitter taste, transparent liquid color, when in contact with air and light sources can easily change to dark red color due to oxidation. It is soluble in water and alcohol，when in contact with the nose and mouth it can be easily absorbed by the skin.
‘The Nicotine’ added into the e-liquid for vaping should be clear to light yellow and usually those which are not anymore recommended for vaping (e-cigarette) use are dark yellow or red in color.
Your nicotine color can affect the the final color of your E-liquids, since the Flavor concentrates you’ll use in mixing may come with their own distinct colors.
When the nicotine is exposed into certain temperature and light sources or not stored properly over a period of time, the color can progressively change to yellow then eventually to red color.
Nicotine as an alkaline solution will experience a change of color from clear to light yellow to red during the mixing process with other acidic substances. This phenomenon is normal and will not affect the quality of the e-liquids
After a long-term Test and Experiment conducted at HiLIQ FlavorLab, we found some of the reasons why nicotine color changes.
1. AIR: OXIDATION BY AIR CHANGES THE NICOTINE AND THE DEGREE OF CHANGES DEPENDS MOSTLY WITH ITS CONTACT TO IT.
The longer the exposure of the nicotine with air the higher degree of changes with the color we will obtain.
Test date: 2015.9.14-2015.12.1
Observation: On the picture we can see that bottle A in the left side is filled with air and the bottle B in the right side came sealed with no air. After 2 months experiment we can see clearly the difference that the bottle A is more yellowish than Bottle B. Pure Nicotine follows the same process too!
2.CHEMICAL REACTIONS WITH OTHER SUBSTANCES.
Nicotine as an alkaline solution will experience a change of color from clear to light yellow to red during the mixing process with other acidic substances.
Test date: 2015.9.14-2015.12.1
Observation: On the picture, we can see that bottle A contains nicotine diluted into VG and on the right side we can see it is diluted in PG. Both were kept in the same experimental environment for two months – We can see the color of the nicotine diluted into VG is more yellowish than the one diluted in PG. Therefore, VG reacts with nicotine more easily and accelerates its oxidation process faster. In this note, we highly recommend using PG when diluting nicotine and storing them properly.
3.TEMPERATURE: IT’S A KEY PLAYER IN NICOTINE DISCOLORATION, THE NICOTINE IS NOT HEAT RESISTANT, THUS, AT A HIGH TEMPERATURE, NICOTINE QUALITY CAN DEGRADE FASTER.
The nicotine has to be kept in an absolutely low temperature, especially in summer or tropical areas where the weather is usually hot!
Test date: 2015.9.23-2015.12.1
Observation: On the picture, bottle A have the diluted nicotine solution kept at a constant, normal room temperature while bottle was kept under 5℃ low temperature with the same conditions applied to other experiments. We can see that the color of the liquid on Bottle A is darker than bottle B, therefore, the right temperature to store your nicotine is very critical in Nicotine Discoloration.
4. STORAGE CONTAINERS: NICOTINE IS A STRONG SUBSTANCE. IT IS VERY CORROSIVE AND CAN EASILY CHANGE ITS CHEMICALS FORM WHEN IN CONTACT WITH VARIOUS SUBSTANCES THAT RESULT WITH CHANGING OF ITS MOLECULAR ASPECT OR COLOR, SO CHOOSING THE RIGHT CONTAINER IS VERY IMPORTANT.
we recommend that you store it in glass bottles as they don’t interact chemically with organic substances, or processed fluorine containers.
Test date: 2015.9.23-2015.12.1
Observation: On the picture, we can see three different types of bottles kept for 2 months and we can see vivid results. The brown glass bottle on the left rejects lighting and is perfect for long time storage, the middle is general transparent glass bottle suitable for observing the color changes but need to be stored in dark place to avoid contact with light sources, on the right side we have a PE plastic bottle that is made from organic materials , if nicotine is stored in it for long time will have some reactions and is definitely not fit to store nicotine.
5.TIME: IT HAS DEFINITELY AN IMPACT ON THE NICOTINE DISCOLORATION AS ANYTHING HAS A WARRANTY PERIOD ESPECIALLY IF USED OVER TIME.
The longer you keep it the more likely it will change color.
In the precedent picture, we can see some samples of nicotine that we saved during the production period over the year under experimental conditions and we can see a clear changes on the color. Therefore, storing nicotine for a long time is not a good idea and we highly recommend to use the nicotine as fresh as possible to ensure the quality and the safety of the product.
