Nicotine separating after diluted?

[dudex]

I had a question about if once mixed will the nicotine separate from the other ingredients. Awhile back I had an incident where I filled a cartridge and vaped and I definitely got a high dose of Nic. I had already used this liquid prior and had no problems and after that incident I make sure I shake well before use.

So the question. Will the nicotine separate from the vg/pg? Or once mixed should it be dissolved permanently in the base?

 

[kinabaloo]

I would guess you used VG, correct? What source of VG if that is so?

Open to the possibility; not yet a believer.

 

[Kurt]

That question has not been definitively answered yet, in my opinion, but it applies to nic in unthinned VG-only. I do not see this happening from a chemical standpoint, but then I do not have hard data. That does not stop the idea from becoming "fact", however, in this community. Enough posts, and everyone accepts it as gospel.

I have unflavored 100 mg nic liquid in pure unthinned VG from several vendors, and I have never seen this happen, ever. I have recently had a discussion with one of the major vendors of nic liquid here, and he has never seen this either. That said, it is not easy ot homogenously mix pure freebase nic with very thick VG. Takes a while, and there have been reports of incomplete mixing leading to hot spots in the liquid, but that particular vendor has amply fixed this issue almost two years ago, and to my knowledge it has not reappeared. This latest BE situation MIGHT be a similar problem, but it is looking like it was sloppy labeling and records (admitted to be the CEO Brad Bacher)...and sloppy policing of what actually went out the door. Separate issues.

That all said, even if there was an issue with this, which again, I do not see, any amount of thinning, such as flavorings, water or alcohol, will completely remove all doubt. Fact is, if a process is spontaneous, that is, it occurs on its own without adding chemical or energetic outside forces, such as a substance dissolving in a solvent, unless the temperature is changed it will NOT spontaneously come back out of solution. This would violate fundamental laws of thermodynamics, entropy, free energy, and equilibrium. This does not mean that all high-nic liquids we purchase are completely mixed. But if they are, and are a solution, it takes extra effort to reverse that, more than just sitting there.

Hope this helps. A little thinning solves this question, if the issue is valid in the first place, which I doubt. If anyone has any data to support nic separating, however, please post or PM me (preferred).

 

[kinabaloo]

Liquids can unmix if they are not completely miscible. Perhaps this can happen with non-hydrated VG at the supplier stage, but the VG we use would be hydrated. I'd like to see what happens in very cold weather also but I don't have a high-nic/VG )only) liquid atm to do so.

Separate issue but related. It is possible that the filler can have a chromotograhic like filtering effect, and also that the heating may preferentially vaporise some constituents better than others leading to a change in relative concentrations. Most people have noticed that the flavor and hit can vary a bit during the use of a carto. Much less likely with a tank or when dripping.

 

[Kurt]

I think flavors drop off relatively fast with cartos because you are getting so much more vapor usually and the taste receptors get saturated easier. Heat tends to shut down those receptors too. Cold food tastes stronger than hot food.

I also doubt we are getting anhydrous VG, but I do not think the eutectic is very much, maybe 1%. the solution issue of the nic is a sticky one (especially in VG!). It is dissolving, since the solution is water-like in the end, not cloudy at all. I have frozen a lot of 100 mg VG-nic, although it never freezes solid, and to date I have yet to shake a bottle up after it thaws. Never noted anything too strong in my DIYs, as long as I know the nic level. Those glass bottles I fill to close to the rim with liquid, so they would not shake well anyway, even if I did. Until this consideration came up, honestly, it did not occur to me that I needed to shake them before making a DIY. 100 mg if it rose up, since I am taking from close to the top with the syringe, would it seems certainly be way too strong if there was a separation.