Sandia seeks partners for invisible ink tech

A research team at Sandia National Laboratories in the US is seeking partnerships to help develop and commercialise a new invisible ink technology.

Sandia says its inks offer a new way to mark authentic pill bottles and other goods with a pattern or signature that only emerges under certain kinds of light – known as an ‘optical tag’ – which could help legitimate companies get ahead of fraudsters and keep consumers safe.

“The development of new technologies that can effectively ensure asset safety and security, as well as integrity-checking throughout a product’s lifecycle in this ever-evolving landscape, is critical,” said materials scientist Dorina Sava Gallis, who leads the research.

According to the organisation the high-tech inks have “complex signatures that are difficult to imitate or reverse-engineer.” They can be authenticated in at least three distinct ways: detecting the signature under light, measuring how that signature changes with time and analysing the chemicals that make up the ink.

For example, shining an ultraviolet light on a Sandia-designed ink might cause one pattern to become visible, while also revealing a second, hidden pattern that can only be seen with an infrared camera. The patterns can even morph, revealing an animation instead of a static image.

Several patent applications have been filed for the technology, which is based on a class of materials known as metal-organic frameworks. Only the right amounts of certain metals placed in the proper atomic arrangement and ratios will produce a given image.

“We are pushing the boundaries of made-to-order materials and how much complexity we can encode,” said Sava Gallis.

The team says that potential applications of the optical tags include protecting medical products and food products from counterfeiting. Furthermore, adding additional sensors could indicate whether temperature-sensitive packages were mishandled during shipment.