Outsmarting Counterfeit Detector Pens With Clever Chemistry [Video]

Counterfeit detector pens utilize a starch-iodine response to determine phony costs. But could you deceive them with chemistry? In today’s episode, we dive into the chemistry of iodine, its color and its clock responses, all while making a little additional money on the side.

Video Transcript:

Let’s state that we wished to deceive these fake detection pens for science, how could we make this response not take place on regular paper?

Y’ all, my search history is a mess.

( subtle groovy music)

I’m informing you, somebody’s gon na take a look at my online purchase history and resemble, she’s printing costs and like, I imply, technically I did.

Making fake cash is bad and incorrect and prohibited and tough to do, and if you are searching for a how-to video, this is not it.

Does that work, ACS Legal?

Can we make the video now?

These pens are filled with an iodine service, generally something like potassium iodine to assist the non-polar iodine liquify in water. If you swipe them on a piece of routine non-currency paper, which consists of starch, it leaves a dark mark, which is it.

These pens are simply an easy response in between iodine and starch.

Now, most routine paper like printer paper consists of starch.

If you remember our soft bread episode, a few of the starches organized into long hairs of glucose particles called amylose, which can fold into helices.

Inside the pen, iodine and iodide ions come together to form a triiodide complex.

I understand, I understand, let’s go to the white boards.

Okay, I got you.

So iodine is the aspect, iodide is the ion, and the triiodide complex is 3 of ’em completely.

Got it?

Great

I believe I got it.

Equilibrium

This is essential due to the fact that when you run the pen over the paper, these triiodide complexes slip inside the amylose helix and trigger a dark purple or brown color.

This is why you can get the exact same response on a starchy food like a potato chip.

So iodine plus starch equates to a brown mark on routine paper, however currency paper isn’t routine paper.

It’s really a mix of material fibers and consists of no starch.

So when you run the pen over a genuine costs, there’s no color modification due to the fact that there’s no starch.

Iodine’s color modification depends upon what it is liquified in.

As a strong, iodine is sort of a grayish metal with a purple vapor.

If you include a little bit of iodine service into oil, you can see that truly lovely sort of violet color.

There’s a world in which that’s purple.

The color we see, obviously, is light showing off of the particles.

Some light gets soaked up, moving electrons around in their molecular orbitals, and some light bounces off, and what we see is the light that bounces off.

So if the wavelengths of light that get soaked up modification,

the color we see can alter too.

And iodine’s color modifications based upon its solvent.

For example, when contributed to water, iodine services turn from that sort of purple color into more of a yellow brown color.

This is due in part to the interaction of electrons in between the iodine and the water particles.

Weakly- bound donor acceptor complexes can form in between the iodine and the water, and this modifications how the electrons react to inbound light, altering the wavelengths of light that are soaked up, altering the color that we see.

Now, when the iodine service in the pens responds with starch particles on paper, you get this sort of purple-brown color.

And keep in mind how I stated that it was most likely due to the fact that of the triiodide complexes slipping into the starch helices?

There’s really a bit more than simply that going on here, and the research study into the specifics is still continuous, due to the fact that it’s truly cool.

So the pens consist of a truly water down iodide-iodine service, which has little to no color.

Now, there are I2 particles drifting around, triiodide complexes and potassium iodide.

And if anything, this entire thing is similar to, somewhat pale yellow.

But when the triiodide particles slip inside the amylose helices in starch, I2 particles accompany with them.

Electrons that soak up inbound light can now quickly return and forth in between the I2 and I3 particles, due to the fact that they’re ideal beside each other, altering not simply the color of the iodine, however likewise the strength.

So now you can get these intense blues and dark browns that we see when we blend starch and iodine.

Various lengths of polyiodine chains inside the amylose helices have actually been proposed from 3 to 4, like we simply discussed, to as high as 160.

So, great deals of irregularity.

A 2022 group examined and recommended that the brief chains may get in the helix and after that reorganize, triggering longer chains, and likewise possibly triggering modifications to the structure of the helix itself.

The interaction likewise alters based upon the length and the structure of the amylose helices, just how much water is around, how the starch itself was cleansed.

There are a great deal of things here that may affect precisely what color takes place when you run that pen over the paper.

Anyways, this is all cool, however what if we wan na really stop this interaction from taking place?

We can’t pull the iodine outta the pens, so rather, let’s see if we can take a stab at getting the starch out of the paper.

First up, starch is a polymer of sugar particles, so we might attempt heat to break that down.

Starch breaks down beginning at around 280 degrees < period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Celsius</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>The Celsius scale, also known as the centigrade scale, is a temperature scale named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius. In the Celsius scale, 0 °C is the freezing point of water and 100 °C is the boiling point of water at 1 atm pressure.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex ="0" function ="link" >Celsius, which has to do with536 degrees< period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Fahrenheit</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>The Fahrenheit scale is a temperature scale, named after the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit and based on one he proposed in 1724. In the Fahrenheit temperature scale, the freezing point of water freezes is 32 °F and water boils at 212 °F, a 180 °F separation, as defined at sea level and standard atmospheric pressure.&nbsp;</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex ="0" function ="link" >Fahrenheit

But my oven just goes to500, and the ignition temperature level paper is around233Celsius or(************************************************ )Fahrenheit, so I’m gon na attempt and set my oven to425 and see if possibly we can simplify a bit, however without capturing it on fire.

(pan bangs)

Don’ t attempt this in the house.

I likewise have a fire expert on hand, simply in case.

( container rustling)

( inaccurate buzzer dings)

But here’s why biochemistry is my preferred.

Fight me,George(************* )

Enzymes catalyze responses by reducing their activation energy, and there is an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of starch.

Amylase

Amylase takes that response that takes place at233 degrees(*************************************************************************************************************************************** )and makes it take place closer to about65 to75Celsius, which is way more affordable.

Now, your spit really consists of a great deal of amylase to break down the starches in food.

(********************************************************************************* )what I’m gon na do is I’m gon na take this paper and I’m gon na lick it, no, I’m not.

I’m not gon na do that.

Instead, I’m gon na take this amylase that I bought from the web and include 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon of water and simmer our paper in it at about 70 Celsius
or 158 Fahrenheit.

Amylase breaks down starch chains into smaller sized sugars like maltose and glucose.

There’s bubbles forming at the top, and I really am questioning if those bubbles resemble, little bit, sweet, I imply for sure it’s ’cause the water is warming up, however like possibly we’re really breaking down some starch into some sugars there.

Eh, no.

Maybe it worked a little.

No

( inaccurate buzzer dings)

Now, yeast likewise produces and utilizes amylase, so if you want to do this a much smellier method, you might attempt that too.

( inaccurate buzzer dings)

Alternatively, we might attempt obstructing the iodine from connecting with a starch instead of simplifying.

Now, we might attempt and do this physically

with something hydrophobic, like hairspray.

( hairspray whooshes)

Oh- ho-ho-ho, that did not operate at all.

It nearly made the response much faster.

Hairspray is a no.

( inaccurate buzzer dings)

Or you might attempt vitamin C.

Vitamin C, AKA, ascorbic < period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>acid</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Any substance that when dissolved in water, gives a pH less than 7.0, or donates a hydrogen ion.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex ="0" function ="link" > acid , decreases iodine into iodide ions, which are generally colorless in service.

So you get I2, 2I minus.

These hydrogens pop on over here.

Reduction, chemistry.

So we can spray our costs with a bit of vitamin C liquified in water, let it dry, and after that experiment with the pen.

Woo

The vitamin C worked.

( appropriate buzzer dings)

Can’ t capture me now, federal government mint.

Now, this is how the traditional iodine clock response works, and I’ve really never ever done this experiment previously, and it looks truly cool, so we’re gon na do it.

I did not create this variation of the iodine clock response, I’m following(*********************************************************************************************** )Red’s variation of it, due to the fact that I have not done it previously, and I believed this one looked excellent.

So thanks, Nigel.

Credit where credit is due.

In one beaker, we have water, iodine, and vitamin C.

It’s colorless since that vitamin C indicates that we have iodide ions.

In the other beaker we have water, hydrogen peroxide, and our old pal, starch.

If we blend the 2 colorless liquids together, they at first stay colorless, however then bam.

I believe my iodine concentration is a little too low.

( intense tone beeps)

( intense subtle music)

Oh, the other one, the one off electronic camera simply turned.

There’s hope, there’s hope, there’s hope.

( trainer laughes)

Bam, they develop into a dark liquid.

This is due to the fact that there are several responses taking place here.

The hydrogen peroxide turns the iodide ions back into I2 or iodine, however as long as there’s vitamin C around, the iodine keeps being lowered back to iodide.

But ultimately, the vitamin C goes out, the I2 forms up, comes together with some other I-minus ions to form those triiodide complexes we discussed previously.

Those socialize with starch, and bam, color.

So freaking cool.

What was this video about once again?

Right, fake cash.

Because none of this takes place in genuine currency paper, due to the fact that there’s no starch in it.

United States currency paper is made by Crane & &Co

They were handpicked, no lie, by(*************************************************************************************** )(*********************************************************************************** )to make
the very first United States currency,

and they have actually simply stuck since.

The paper likewise has red and blue colored filaments going through it, making it tough to replicate, and Crane & & Co will not offer it to you.

But this things is some paper that I purchased off of Amazon, so you can purchase a paper that may currently deceive an exhausted, underpaid cashier simply attempting to complete their shift and inspect your costs.

Right, it’s certainly a various color from the printer paper.

So there’s printer paper and after that Amazon paper.

There’s the genuine costs, and I do not believe it’s deceiving anyone.

I wager they spray it with a little starch for this function.

And most genuine counterfeiters aren’t purchasing things like this.

They’re whitening little denomination costs to get the ideal paper, and after that printing bigger denominations on it.

So these pens are among the weakest techniques of fake detection for a variety of factors.

So was all of this for naught?

I imply, no, the chemistry deserved it.

You discovered something, didn’t you?

I did.

I really have not attempted this pen on this paper yet.

Also, enjoyable reality, this paper has red and blue filaments going through it.

Like, you can simply purchase with red and blue fibers in it.

What are they doing?