1. Effect of External Flow on Self-Assembly of Colloidal Suspensions
Ying Sun, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics,
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Ink jetting process: Three physical stages involved in inkjet printing of colloidal drops are shown below. Our focus is on the last stage that ultimately determines the deposition morphology.
A schematic of our experimental setup is shown on the right.
1 - Drop Formation
2 – Impact and Spreading
3 – Evaporation &
Self-assembly
We seek to eliminate the “coffee stain” effect of inkjet-deposited colloidal drops for achieving uniform deposition through the optimization of ink and substrate properties, as well as process conditions.