What are the components or elements that makes the ink of a highlighter?

Question

the highlighters are the one you use to highlight the important details on your books. I noticed that high lighters' ink doesnt fade or wash off like ordinary pen ink in water... just wondering if I can invent a pen someday using the same components of a highlighter and change the color and turn it to black, blue or red. So that in situations when you accidentally soak your notebook with important details, it will never fade or wash off.

Answer 1

I think you should check the following site:

http://www.chemsoc.org/chembytes/ezine/2003/kunjappu_mar03.htm

it really gives a lot of info on what kind of chemicals you need to give different properties to ink. However pigments and some other chemicals are usually patented.

Answer 2

That's a very good idea. I think the highlighters ink actually works by soaking further into the paper, because it can penetrate the fibers better. I'm guessing because it is more liquid. You could test gel pens to see if my theory is correct. They should stay better than regular pens. Of course it could also be less soluble in water, but that wouldn't explain the fading.
Most commercial products like that are proprietary, though. So the company does not tell anyone what is in the ink because they don't want people to be able to make their own or to help the competition. It's just not common knowledge and companies do that on purpose.