Jetting and droplet formation of particle-loaded fluids

Abstract

Inkjet printing is an attractive method for patterning and fabricating objects across many areas of industry. There is a growing interest in the printing of inks with high particle-loading, such as inks containing glass frit, ceramic and functional inks. However, the use of these inks is often limited due to uncertainty regarding the impact of their rheology on the printing process. Understanding of the role of complex rheology in the jetting of loaded inks is therefore needed to facilitate the wider application of inkjet printing. Here, we characterize the complex rheology and the jetting of model dispersion inks (containing 10, 15, and 23 vol. % TiO2 nanoparticles) and compared them with those without particles. The jetting of the model fluids was conducted with a commercial inkjet printhead (nozzle diameter 34 μm) and visualized with stroboscopic and ultra-high-speed imaging. For low particle concentrations, droplet formation is generally similar to those of unloaded inks, provided their Ohnesorge number and Weber number are matched, although the filament of the loaded model fluid tends to have earlier break-off, having a shorter length. The jetting reliability decreased with increase in particle-loading until reliable jetting can no longer be achieved, due to local particle–particle interactions in the ink channel and in the filament during the fast extensional thinning process. A jetting map is presented which illustrates the influence of particle-loading on the droplet formation, and indicates that the acceptable range of Ohnesorge number for jetting is reduced as the particle-loading is increased.