Re: Chemicals used in the printing of money?

Thanks for your question Stella. I believe you when you said you couldn't find a list of chemicals used to make money. I looked for about a week and I didn't come up with anything either.

I can give you a little bit of information about the chemicals I know are used in paper, there are thousands. I'm sure the process of manufacturing currency paper is not much different. I also answered a question that may interest you about the use of Sodium Hydroxide in papermaking ( http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun2000/961075580.Ch.r.html).

Initially the fibers used for the paper are bleached, to make the fibers white, with an oxidizing agent such as Chlorine Dioxide, Peroxide, Sodium Hypochlorite (this is in regular bleach like Clorox), or a number of other chemicals. I would imagine that the fibers used for money consist of wood fibers and cotton fibers. The cotton will provide extra strength and durability that will help the bills last longer.

Organic molecules can be added to paper to help make the paper more water resistant. This would be necessary for currency paper also. Other chemicals that could be used are dyes to give the paper its distinctive color, acids and bases for pH control, and many applications where chemicals are used to improve the properties of the paper.

I know I didn't just give you a list of chemicals, but I hope this helps.