Optimization of Experimental Parameters to Suppress Nozzle Clogging in Inkjet Printing
نویسندگان
چکیده
Stable drop jettability is mandatory for a successful, technical scale inkjet printing, and accordingly, this aspect has attracted much attention in fundamental and applied research. Previous studies were mainly focused on Newtonian fluids or polymer solutions. Here, we have investigated the drop jetting for zinc oxide (ZnO) particulate suspensions. Generally, the inverse Ohnesorge number Z = Oh−1, which relates viscous forces to inertia and surface tension, is sufficient to predict the jettability of single phase fluids. For the inkjet printer setup used here, jetting was possible for Newtonian fluids with 2.5 < Z < 26, but in the identical Z-range, nonjetting and nozzle clogging occurred for certain suspensions. A so-called ring-slit device, which allows for simultaneous formation and detection of aggregates in strongly converging flow fields, and single particle detecting techniques, which allow for an accurate determination of the number and size of micrometer-sized aggregates in suspensions of nanoparticles, were used to study this phenomenon. Nozzle clogging is induced by heterocoagulation of micrometer-sized aggregates and ZnO nanoparticles in the elongational flow field at the nozzle exit. Clogging may occur even if the size of these aggregates is well below the nozzle diameter and their concentration is on the order of only a few hundred parts per million (ppm). Accordingly, increased colloidal stability of nanoparticles and reduced aggregate concentration result in better drop jettability. Also, a nozzle design resulting in a shorter exposure time of the ink to elongational flow and an increased flow velocity helps to avoid nozzle clogging.
منابع مشابه
Direct selective growth of ZnO nanowire arrays from inkjet-printed zinc acetate precursor on a heated substrate
Inkjet printing of functional materials has drawn tremendous interest as an alternative to the conventional photolithography-based microelectronics fabrication process development. We introduce direct selective nanowire array growth by inkjet printing of Zn acetate precursor ink patterning and subsequent hydrothermal ZnO local growth without nozzle clogging problem which frequently happens in n...
متن کاملInkjet Catalyst Printing and Electroless Copper Deposition for Low-Cost Patterned Microwave Passive Devices on Paper
A scalable, low-cost process for fabricating copper-based microwave components on flexible, paper-based substrates is demonstrated. An inkjet printer is used to deposit a catalyst-bearing solution (tailored for such printing) in a desired pattern on commercially-available, recyclable, non-toxic (Teslin®) paper. The catalystbearing paper is then immersed in an aqueous copper-bearing solution to ...
متن کاملThe Inkjet Printing of Reducible AgNPs amperometric glucose biosensor Electrodes
The enzymes immobilization of the is crucially effective factor in biosensor preparation. Metal nanoparticles potentially able to immobilize the enzymes according to unique properties including large surface-to-volume ratio, high surface reaction activity, high catalytic efficiency, and strong adsorption ability. A novel and highly sensitive amperometric glucose biosensor was obtained by using ...
متن کاملModel-Free Feedforward Control of Inkjet Printhead’
Inkjet printers are non-impact printers which print text and images by spraying tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper. Besides the well known small inkjet printers for home and office, there is a market for professional inkjet printers. Inkjet printers are used to form conductive traces for cir cuits, and color filters in LCD and plasma displays. That makes the printing quality is an important...
متن کاملPiezoelectric Drop-on-Demand Inkjet Printing of Rat Fibroblast Cells: Survivability Study and Pattern Printing
A novel piezoelectric, drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet system has been developed and used to print L929 rat fibroblast cells. We investigate the survivability of the cells subjected to the large stresses during the printing process. These stresses are varied by changing the diameter of the orifice (36 to 119 μm) through which the cells are dispensed, as well as changing the electrical pulse used to...
متن کامل