Inkjet Printing of Glass Frit Suspensions: From Uniform Lines to Uniform Films

Abstract

In this study, uniform films of nanocomposite glass frits (GFs) were printed on a ceramic surface using an inkjet printing technique. For the uniform inkjet printing of GF films, a theoretical model was employed to predict the optimal pitch of ink droplets for the inkjet printing of uniform lines. This model predicted that uniform GF lines could be printed at ink-droplet pitches smaller than 62 μm. Using this theoretical understanding, uniform and crack-free GF films with a thickness of 6 μm were printed by one-time printing. The inkjet-printed GF films were sintered at 850 ◦ C to enhance the film density and surface roughness. The thickness of the post-sintered film decreased by half compared to the as-deposited film. The root-mean-square roughness of the GF films also decreased from 43 nm for the as-printed film to 8 nm for the post-sintered film. This work opens up an opportunity to inkjet print not only the GF coating layers but also complex GF patterns for various industrial applications.