I have been doing a lot of research on storing nicotine and found that oxygen is the real killer for long term storage (everyone knows this). I don't want to be forced to pull a 120ml bottle of 24mg/ml out of the freezer and have to use it all before it oxidizes. I also don't want to store a bunch of little bottles. Why is there not something on the market like medical medicine bottles that are used with hypodermic needles? Companies could store nicotine in them with argon and they would never touch oxygen. Fill a syringe up with the amount of argon gas that you want to extract from the medicine bottle, inject the gas into the medicine bottle and extract your nicotine. I know that it may be a PIA with a hypodermic needle, but if we were to use a PG solution at 100mg/ml most of us wouldn't have to extract that much (I am down to 1.5mg/ml in my DIY). I could have one 120ml bottle of 100mg/ml in the freezer, let it rise to room temp, extract and then throw it back in freezer. I would only pull enough to make a 30ml bottle of a 24mg/ml solution. I have looked into products like self healing injection ports for mason jars but I really don't think that would work to well. What are your thoughts /r/DIY_eJuice?
It's a good idea but there's a big "But".
When you pull out solution from the bottle, something has to go in to replace the volume of liquid you are retrieving; air will enter your bottle to replace the volume of liquid drawn, which will introduce oxygen.
What you want is this: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/3jo62e/stepping_up_to_professional_diy_vending_get_a/
Unfortunately it requires the sourcing and purchase of CO2, $125 for the dispenser, and $1500 worth of nic (18 liters).
Your best bet is to break large orders into smaller bottles that go into the freezer and break them into (or spend the extra money and get orders that contain argon/helium-blanketed) smaller bottles that will last you a few weeks/months. That way any batch you work out of has minimal exposure to oxygen.
Yea I saw that post too.
I understand that the volume of liquid extracted must be replaced by a volume of gas. That is why you fill the syringe with argon gas and inject it into the bottle before extracting the liquid. It will pressurize the bottle until you draw the nicotine very similar to how a medical professional preps a syringe before administering medication. Very similar to this.
I'm heading to bed...
Okay I see now that you mentioned pre-injecting argon gas into the vial in the original post (it was late for me too!).
This should technically work, though to me it sounds like way more trouble than it's worth. I'll explain:
My opinion is that a few weeks worth of oxidation is to be expected anyway; nicotine should last for a few months under regular conditions (room temp, no argon blanket, etc.) with negligible oxidation. I can dig up some old ECF threads by "Kurt" and others if you like, they used a chemistry background to come up with these numbers that laid the foundation for most of the "rules" that we follow when it comes to nicotine storage.
Starting with a good product that has minimal oxidation and good flavor (versus some of the lower quality nic on the market) will probably get you much farther than all of this fumbling with noble gasses, but it can't make it worse if done right, right?
If you are that die hard, and can source argon or whatever, I suppose you could go that route, but I think most people expect a little oxidation by the time it gets into their juice, unless of course you are at the industrial/professional level and can afford the equipment and materials I mentioned in my first comment.
Thanks for your reply. I was hoping to do long term storage (+5yrs). I would use CarolinaXtract for my vendor due to the way that they process their nicotine. I know that most people expect to have some oxidation but I am brainstorming on how to improve what we have. I have also given some thought about mason jars without using a self injection port. Put nicotine in...fill jar with argon...put the lid on then vacuum seal with a Food Saver and Mason Jar attachment. It should suck all the air out and any traces should be argon.