Generation of inkjet drop of particulate gel

Abstract

The generation of inkjet drops of colloidal gels is studied experimentally. Particle suspensions are prepared by dispersing spherical polystyrene particles of 620 nm in the 1:1 mixture of deionized water and ethylene glycol. The gels are prepared by adding polyethylene oxide to the suspensions by inducing the depletion interaction between particles. It is demonstrated that inkjet drops can be generated by using the colloidal gels. It is found that the ligament extended from the inkjet nozzle is stabilized so that the drop can be generated without satellite droplets behind the main drop and the velocity of the gel drop is faster than that of the polymer solution at the same concentration. The gel drop generation characteristics are found to be sensitive to input voltage.