Ink-jet printing of wax-based alumina suspensions

Suspensions of fine alumina powder in a paraffin wax have been successfully formulated with viscosity values sufficiently low to allow ink-jet printing using a commercial printer. A commercial-grade paraffin wax, with stearylamine and a polyester, were used as the dispersant system. Suspensions with...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Seerden, K, Reis, N, Evans, J, Grant, P, Halloran, J, Derby, B
Format: Journal article
Published: 2001
Description
Summary:Suspensions of fine alumina powder in a paraffin wax have been successfully formulated with viscosity values sufficiently low to allow ink-jet printing using a commercial printer. A commercial-grade paraffin wax, with stearylamine and a polyester, were used as the dispersant system. Suspensions with powder loadings up to 40 vol% were passed through the ink-jet printer head. Unfired ceramic bodies with a feature size of <100 μm have been successfully fabricated with waxes that had a powder loading of 30 vol%. The influence of suspension fluid properties on the ink-jet printing process has been studied, and the importance of the acoustic resonance within the ink-jet printing apparatus has been demonstrated.